If you’ve ever driven south to the U.S. border, it’s likely you’ve seen the little white church that stands between the divides of Highway 75 S, just south of Ste. Agathe. Maybe you’ve even wondered about it.
The original Union Point Church was built in 1887, accompanied by a cemetery.
After burning down in 1939, the church was rebuilt a year later in the same spot.
Union Point Church was a place of worship until the early 1960s, when the population of the surrounding community diminished greatly.
“Union Point used to be quite a bustling area in the 1880s to probably the 1920s and ’30s,” caretaker Scott Parker said.
“There was a church, a hall, post office, a hotel. Everything’s gone except for the church now, and the cemetery.”
The United Church of Canada decided to maintain the church because of it historical significance. However, around 2005 they were running into issues with liability and were planning on either moving or demolishing the church.
Not wanting to lose the church, a small group of nearby residents stepped up. Parker, along with his wife and another couple, are now the current caretakers for the site.
“We just decided it was the least we could do to kind of preserve it in its present spot,” Parker said.
“It could have been moved to a museum as well, but everybody kind of relates to the little white church between the four lanes.”
Parker says the non-profit Union Point Church Association has a very limited budget, and isn’t sure whether the church can be maintained indefinitely.
“The issue is the church itself—the building—is not a heritage building, although the site is. So, the church doesn’t qualify for any funding from the government. It will be an issue down the road, no doubt. We will have to make a decision then.”
Parker says anyone looking to donate to maintain the church can do so through the R.M. of Morris.