New Era church was established in 1873. The founders of the church purchased the property from the Oregon pioneer, Joseph Parrott Sr. who came to Oregon on the Oregon Trail. His son, Joseph Parrott Jr. was the caretaker of the church in the 1920s, and Mr. Parrott, also, gave lectures at the church.
The above photo is of New Era Church in 1909. We obtained the photo from the Canby Historical Society and posted the photo with their permission.
The church was open during the summer for people to attend church services, picnics, and stay in tents on the grounds when the hotel was full. 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 the 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 historical research.
The Historic Hotel Fundraising to restore the historic hotel
The historic hotel needs to be painted, some of the windows need to be repaired and the outside staircase repaired.
The New Era church historic Hotel is no longer a functioning hotel. It was one of the first structures to be built on the property. The historic hotel was built by one of the board members --he, also, helped to shape Portland into a city.
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. 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.
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.