By Bailey Bowers

Here is the Ada Church of Christ Disciples on South Main Street. The church is remarkably unchanged aside from some repairs and changes in materials on the façade.

CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE.

There are also subtle changes in the surrounding area. In the old picture, you can see a street lamp hanging from a wire above the cobblestone street.

An interesting fact about this church is that one of its founding members was Dr. Solomon Lehr, the founder of Ohio Northern University. Lehr came to Ada in 1866 and found that there was only one Sunday school in town. Looking to remedy this, he invited several Ada families to worship in an old frame schoolhouse. Twenty-seven people attended worship. The congregation moved to several other makeshift worship spaces as it grew to 36 members.

Eventually, the congregation needed more space. A new church was constructed, and it still stands today.

For previous "Past and Present" features click here.