Melrose United Methodist Church a.k.a. Melrose Methodist Episcopal Church, South was constructed of heart pine by the congregation in 1879 and first located within the original 1877 plat of Melrose.. The church bell, installed in the 1890s, was rung to alert townspeople of fires, community meetings, and the arrival of the steamboat from Waldo to Melrose Bay. It was also rung to warn citrus growers of possible freezes. The bell still calls people to worship. A parsonage was added in the 1890s for the circuit preacher, and a fence built around the church to “keep the hogs out.” In 1895, kerosene lamps lit the church; gas lights were installed by 1919. Before each service, young boys pumped gas into the fixtures from an outdoor tank. In 1931, the church’s west side was enlarged to include Sunday school rooms
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