In 1888 the twin cities of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda constituted the largest lumber trading center in the United Sates, some say the world.

Those were bustling, busy times. Many new industries were being developed. In 1888 getting around the streets of these two small cities was difficult, particularly during a rainy or snowy time, and especially getting from one side of the Erie Canal to the other.

North Tonawanda had a population of around 4,500 people, but it had very few churches. Over in Tonawanda, our mother church was very successful. The Tonawanda Church of Christ (today it is known as Grove Street Christian Church) was located on the corner of Broad and Seymour Streets. Several members of that church lived in North Tonawanda. They complained about how difficult it was for them to cross the canal for services.

With the help of Rev. Frank Talmadge, the pastor of the Tonawanda Church of Christ, on August 5, 1888 a group of 69 members of the Tonawanda church signed a charter, establishing a Disciples of Christ Church in North Tonawanda. The first name of our church was the North Christian Church.

The first services were held in the Ironton School house near the intersection of Oliver and Wheatfield Streets. That school is gone. Today the new apartment complex for the blind stands on that spot. Leaving the school, the North Christian Church met in the Zimmerman home on Lincoln Avenue, and settled for about one year meeting in the German Evangelical Church on Schenck Street. (That church became Frieden's United Church of Christ. Today that building houses the Ghost Light Theater group.) The two most prominent members and leaders of the church were B. L. Rand (of Remington Rand) and George F. Rand, Sr. (the president of Marine Midland Bank, now HSBC).