Cast your mind back to the Old Muskoka colonization road of the 1860s. As the road was cut out of the forest, settlers moved north to try their hand at making a life out of the land that would become Huntsville.

The families of the farming community met to worship in each other’s homes and formed a Wesleyan Methodist congregation in the early 1860s. By 1871 it was agreed a church was needed. John Madill donated a half-acre of his land for the church and a burial ground and each family donated two rounds of logs. The church they would build of this rough-hewn wood bears the name of Madill to this day.

Settlers cut the logs into square timber, dovetailing them at both ends. The projecting piece of wood, or the tenon, on one end fit snugly into the corresponding cavity, or the mortise, at the other end. These timbers were assembled into rounds with a strong man working at each corner to fit the dovetail. Building materials were slogged from Bracebridge over the rugged road in wagons pulled by oxen and horses.

Building the church was hard work, fueled only by a sense of community and devotion. As May 8, 1873 dawned, the congregation met with great pride and fitting humility to hold their first service.

Many of the families present remain common names in the community: the Madills, Macdonalds, Brays, Proudfoots, Hogaboams, Fetterlys, Spiers, Bradleys, Mawhinneys, Johnstons and Hanes. And the church they constructed at an estimated cost of $600 still stands today; one of the few remaining squared, white pine log buildings with dovetailed corners in Ontario.

Itinerant Wesleyan Methodist ministers and circuit riding preachers held the early services with lay community members filling in when the ministers were elsewhere. The Wesleyan Methodists were known for their forward-thinking views of that era, speaking out against slavery and in support of women’s right to vote.

The cemetery on the church grounds contains the graves of many Muskoka pioneers, including Captain George Hunt, buried under a solid squared gravestone that bears his name and the words, “Pioneer Citizen after whom Huntsville was named.” Hunt is reported to have been a devout Methodist, a stern teetotaler and the champion who persuaded the government to build major roads through Huntsville. He is credited with opening the first school, retail store, postal outlet and legal office in the growing community. Hunt died on February 26, 1882.

Walk into the church and you feel as though you’ve stepped back in time. The wooden floors, walls, wainscotting, lectern, pews, oil lamps, pump organ and stove are all original. Six tiny chairs sit in the vestibule, making it easy to imagine parishioners taking a moment’s rest over the last 136 years. Portraits of early parishioners the Fetterlys still hang on the back wall; Peter Fetterly was one of the first elders of the church.

In 1925 the Methodists joined two other sects to form the United Church; the dove in the United Church seal represents the Methodists. Madill Church has long been the property of the United Church of Canada and the local presbytery asked members of Trinity United Church in Huntsville to maintain the church as trustees in the 1990s.

“We look after the annual yearly service and the cemeteries and the maintenance of the building,” says trustee Doris Monahan.

In 1968, the foundation of dry stonework was reconstructed and the logs were raised to their original sitting. More recently the building has been re-pargeted and some of its windows refurbished.

“We didn’t take out any of the glass,” says Monahan. “The wind and weather had beaten the frames down and we replaced the wood. We were afraid of the glass falling out.”

Thanks to the work of the trustees there remains the beauty of the original uneven glass in some of the windows.

Madill is a truly charming setting and a few times a year, couples choose it as the site of their wedding vows.

“It’s ideal for small families,” says Monahan.

There is a service held the third Sunday of July, this year led by layperson Gail Martin of Bracebridge. A harvest service is also held every year on the last Sunday of October.

The burial grounds are home to two cemeteries; Madill United Church Cemetery and St. Michael’s Cemetery. Through services, weddings and burials, the church continues to serve the spiritual needs of the community.

The church has been thrice honoured. On July 29, 1962 Premier Bill Davis dedicated the plaque that stands in the front of the church, unveiled by Archie Madill, John’s son. Then in 2003 to mark the 130th anniversary of continuous use, the province issued a certificate and in 2007 trustee Doris Monahan applied for the Muskoka Heritage Foundation’s Built and Cultural Heritage Stewardship Award which was subsequently awarded to the congregation. The trustees have also been commended by the province their work in maintaining and promoting this historic building.