The above photo is of New Era Church in 1909 that we obtained from the Canby Historical Society and posted the photo with their permission.
New Era Church was known as New Era Spiritualist camp during that time because it was open during the summer for people to attend church services, picnics, and stay in tents on the grounds when the hotel was full. It was established in 1873. We are not and never were a commune or compound.
We love the clothes and hats that were worn then as you can see in the photo. We thank Canby Historical society for letting us have a copy of the photo and allowing us to post it on our website. The staff at Canby Historical society are very nice and helpful in assisting with research of history.
The Historic Hotel
The New Era church historic Hotel is no longer a functioning hotel. It was one of the first buildings to be built--around 1890.
Ministers, mediums, and other guest speakers from churches in Portland and Salem as well as visitors from different parts of the United States came to speak in the church and to visit--and many of them stayed in the hotel. The historic hotel-- no longer an operational hotel-- is a twenty-room building. It began as a crude, dirt-floor, one-story building. The building was used and is still used for classes, and church services and fellowship gatherings.
By 1890 doors and windows were added. In 1904 running water was installed. The building received electricity in 1924. An annex to the hotel was constructed to house a kitchen and additional sleeping rooms.
The Chapel at New Era Church
The chapel was built in 1938. We use it today for church services and classes. We have had a continuous history of church services and events since 1873. During World War I and after, there were many activities at the church grounds, including church services, classes, seminars, benefit for the Red Cross, benefit for the New Era school, musical presentations, fellowship lunches, dinners, weddings, christening, memorial services, and fellowship gatherings.
Many people attended during World War I and after the war. We have historic photos of the many of the people who attended and copies of historic documents that tell of many of the events on the grounds.