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Cannel City Union Church
— Will She Make it thru her Second Century?

[image ALT: A small one-story more or less rectangular wooden building with a fairly complex roof and a needle-like steeple with decorative shingle-work; a long side is seen, about a third of it covered by vines. It is a view of the Cannel City Union Church in Cannel City, Kentucky (central eastern United States).]

By failing light at the end of the day: absit omen.

[image ALT: missingALT. It is the steeple of the Cannel City Union Church in Cannel City, Kentucky (central eastern United States).]
According to Sharon Cox's page this little country church was built in 1905. Other than that, I know nothing at all of her history; although I suspect this was the home at first of some definite denomination — reinvented as a "Union" Church only when Cannel City shrank, becoming capable of supporting only one congregation.

I fear on the other hand that I know something about her future, if she is not preserved, as I feel she should be, as I hope she will be. Not very far from here, this is what has happened to a similar, if somewhat smaller church; and notice the progress of those vines between Ms. Cox's photo, taken in 2000, and mine, taken six years later. My hope for now is in that nicely trimmed grass: the folks in Cannel City won't let their church disappear.

It would be a pity, in particular, if the attractive decorative shingling of the belfry and the façade were lost: I found it unusual, but for all I know, it may be characteristic of central Kentucky, and very much worth preserving.

[image ALT: A rather bare room, maybe 7 meters on a side, with a drop ceiling of acoustic tiles from which several light fixtures hang; there are three square windows. The room contains a half-dozen wooden pews and what may be a piano. On closer inspection, one can see that the building has been abandoned: the ceiling tiles are spalling, as is the paint on the walls; there is dust and débris on the floor. It is a view of the interior of the larger of two rooms in Cannel City Union Church in Cannel City, Kentucky (central eastern United States).]

The larger of two rooms in the church: it is still dry and usable. In the other room, a piano has been temporarily abandoned, but doesn't seem to be damaged.

[image ALT: A mass of vines in leaf on some kind of wooden background. On closer inspection, one can make out a plaque bearing the inscription '. . . NNE. . . CITY . . . CHURCH'. It is a detail of the door of Cannel City Union Church in Cannel City, Kentucky (central eastern United States).]

This carefully designed window with its trim of colored glass — has lost a pane; the brambles are starting to invade the building.

[image ALT: A mass of vines in leaf on some kind of wooden background. On closer inspection, one can make out a plaque bearing the inscription '. . . NNE. . . CITY . . . CHURCH'. It is a detail of the door of Cannel City Union Church in Cannel City, Kentucky (central eastern United States).]

Back outside, over the entrance door, the name of the church is just barely readable under the encroaching vines.

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Page updated: 1 Jul 18