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This is From the Archives, where we present something from our extensive collection of archival photos, records and all manner of materials dating back to when the church was First Methodist Episcopal, to First Methodist, to Church of the Savior, to St. Paul's to Crossroads.
This week's archives item captures a somewhat brief and interesting moment in the church's musical life, and a brief and unique moment in the physical layout of the sanctuary.
This is a picture of a church service in our sanctuary that is labeled as being 'approximately' from 1952. Whether that is actually correct or not, we can, in hindsight, say with definitive certainty that this picture was taken sometime between 1950 and 1954, both because of what is and what is not seen in it.
First of all, it is always lovely to see the ladies of this era in their finest church hats, and whatever Sunday in (likely) 1952 this service was held, the ladies did not disappoint with their wide variety of hats that day. Take a moment to admire the hats (and admire some of the heads of the balding men).
But more importantly for our purposes, we know that the original Chancel layout of our 1883 sanctuary consisted of an organ with its pipes spread across the front of the church, and the choir seats and pulpit were below those pipes facing forward towards the congregation. There is a picture of that configuration in our stained glass/history room at the rear of the sanctuary if you haven't seen what that looked like. It was quite stunning.
We know that that configuration was changed in 1949/1950, with the removal of that pipe organ and the installation of the 'new' pipe organ (with its pipes hidden in the walls) that we still use every Sunday. Removing all of the old pipes opened up the upper Chancel space. And they installed a wooden floor that is still there, atop which they placed the choir pews, the Altar against the back wall and the organ console off to the side.
That 'new' configuration is what you see in this picture.
But look at what you don't see in this picture. It is something many of you may not think about or notice. Scroll down, open the photo, take a good look and see if you can spot it.
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Our carillon, with its multiple interior and exterior speakers, wasn't installed until 1954. So its console, which has now been in its place between the pulpit and the doors to the west vestibule for 72 years, isn't in this picture.
Did you notice it 'missing?' It wasn't missing, it just wasn't there yet. Knowing what we know now, it feels odd to see it that way.
Because of the Chancel layout and the lack of a carillon console, this is how we can say for sure that this picture was taken sometime in the unique period between 1950 and 1954.
(We can also identify the era by knowing that Dr Roland Hohn, the church's head Pastor at the time, is pictured standing on the left by the Pulpit, and that the Reverend Hugh Graham is seen standing over by the Lectern.)
Our carillon still rings out every Sunday morning before worship, and sometimes when the spirit moves its primary player, during the weekday. It has served this church and the downtown Canton area well for an astonishing 72 years. It certainly has to be one of the last of these instruments from that era in the entire country that is still playing, and we hope it will continue to serve this church and our adjacent city streets for another 72 years.
(If you thought the answer to the question had something to do with the piano pictured on the lower right, no, it didn't. But the piano you see in this picture on the right is indeed the 1949 Steinway grand that is played every Sunday in our worship services in 2026. This is yet another musical instrument that has given an astonishing amount of service to our church. It is even older than our carillon and our organ, and we are incredibly fortunate to still have it!)
(Click to open the image in a new window.)
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