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ARTICLE IX MAIN STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Though far from being one of Mississippi's largest Methodist churches, very few places of worship in the state have had as long and colorful a history as Main Street United Methodist Church in Bay St. Lou i s.
It was one of the coast area's	earliest churches as reports	show
that the town was a 'preaching	place' as early	as 1842.
The church was formally organized in 1852 by a local preacher, Mr.
E. D. Pitts, who was also a school teacher.
The Bay was known at that time as Shieldsboro.
Worship services were held in a small building at the corner of Main and Second Streets on property given by John V. Toulme for a church.
By 1871, Bay St. Louis was one of the four most prominent preaching places on the Coast along with Biloxi, Handsboro and Pass Christian.
In 1895 the present church building was erected. It is considered an outstanding example of Carpenter Gothic Architecture.
The glazing and installation of the original windows is of very fine quality workmanship.
In 1982, five lovely new memorial windows were	added to	the	single
one installed in the 1920's.
These later ones were designed and made by Milton Pounds of the Pounds Studio in New Orleans.
The church building was not completed until the turn of the century.
In 1936 a six-classroom annex was constructed at the rear of the present sanctuary under the pastorate of Rev. J. Early Gray.
In 1944, Mr. A. C. Exnicious gave a plot of ground adjoining the church building lot and five years later, the church purchased a two-story building on Main, next door known as the Maurigi Building.
This was used for years for Sunday School classes and youth activities With the acquisition of this property, the church grounds covered near ly all of a small city block in the downtown area, adjacent to the Hancock County Courthouse.
Mrs. Exnicious made a gift to the church of the last $1,000 note due on the building.
In the 1950's, the annex was renovated and enlarged to include a pastor's study, a kitchen, dining room, fellowship hall and two dressing rooms.
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