The Church of Christ was organized in Dell in August 1909. They met first at the Methodist Church but only for one night. A brush arbor was built which became their meeting place for a while. The Dell School board then offered the use of the 1902 school for their services, which the members gladly accepted. Each Sunday the Dell Church of Christ held worship in the old school building on school grounds until 1915. During that year, they bought the building and moved it to its final location on Jefferson Street. Additions were made in 1922 and 1928. In 1951, a new chapel was built and the old school/church building became classrooms. The church bell was originally the school's bell. It now sits at the home of Dell's mayor.Around 2000-2001, my Dad (Curtis Duncan) and I asked permission to visit the Church of Christ in order to take photos--both for my research and because the fate of the church was questionable. It was the first and only time I saw the interior. It was beautiful in its simplicity.
As I stepped inside the old school building turned classrooms behind the chapel, I felt I was stepping back in time. There was a definite difference in the architecture--a wonderful example of the skills of our early settlers. The wood floors, the old oak doors, the trim. Old black boards. I didn't want to leave. I couldn't soak it all in fast enough.Daddy took the photos, while I tried to register the details in my mind's eye. That's the last time I saw it. Daddy headed for his darkroom; I headed to Virginia, where I lived and worked at Colonial Williamsburg.In September 2002, I received a short note from my Dad. He wrote:"The Church of Christ is no more. They have been working on it for the past week, and still have some to go. They are down to the floor and foundation. To me it was a sad day because it had so much of Dell's history. It served the community in many different ways through good and bad, war and peace. . ."I cried along with him. . .
