Back Creek Friends Church

Back Creek was first established in 1831 by the Indiana Yearly Meeting and has been in continuous operation since then. Presently it is the oldest Friends Meeting in Grant County and the oldest meeting of any denomination in the county.

In 1829 meetings were first held for worship in the cabin of Joseph Winslow. In 1831 a log meetinghouse was erected, but it proved too small for the membership. In 1841 a new brick meetinghouse was completed. This was divided right and left by moveable doors. The men and boys occupied one side and the women and girls the other. Meetings for business and discipline were thus held separately. During the service the women would smile serenely from under their gray silk bonnets. The men would sit in quiet reverence. With so much silence and little activity the time seemed to pass slowly for the young folk.

Back Creek was instrumental in establishing other meetings in southern Grant County. Included in the list are

Oakridge in 1843
Chester (Jonesboro) in 1844
Fairmount in 1852
Little Ridge in 1854
East Bethel in 1867 and
Upland in 1874.
Education was important to the early Quaker settlers. Back Creek began Sabbath School (Sunday School) in 1863. In 1874 the Meeting built a two-story brick school that was used by Friends children. In 1883 we helped start the Fairmount Academy.

The biggest event to come to Back Creek was the June Quarterly Meeting. In years it was held here (1839 - 1893) the attendance grew every year until possibly 10,000 people assembled on the grounds. Excursion trains brought people on the tracks east of the meeting. The atmosphere of a County Fair prevailed, as six to eight out-of-door pulpits accomodated all who wanted to preach. The membership of Back Creek at this time was around 440.

The present meeting house was constructed in 1899, and the parsonage was purchased in 1953.