In 1790, settlers from Johnny Cake Hollow (Wilawana) explored the Sugar Creek valley with the help of Tom Jack, a local native. They gathered their families and settled along the Sugar Creek in the following spring. The matriarchs led these families in worship and prayers of thanks to God for delivering them to this beautiful new land.
Others would follow and settle in Burlington. The community built a small log structure in 1794 that would function as a school and a church. That log structure burned in 1799 and a hewn log church was built to replace it in 1800. In 1822 the hewn log church was torn down and the current church was built on the same site.
This present day church has built to be simple with it's straight back pews and plain unfinished woodwork. The only embellishment is the raised octagon pulpit. It is said that from this vantage point, the preacher would look down on the congregation, but it was the congregation that sat in the balcony that looked down on him to keep him humble. The church also was used as a school during the week and the class was split down the middle, with girls on one side and the boys on the other. Today you can see which side the boys sat on when sitting in the pews, because every boy at that time carried a pocket knife.
As the community and local business centers of Burlington and West Burlington grew at the crossroads of each town, the two towns decided to build their own churches. The Unitarian Church was built in 1854 at the corner of Route 6 and Mac Road in Burlington. The people in West Burlington built the Methodist Church on route 6, in West Burlington, in 1855. This left The Old Burlington Church abandoned and empty. It had served it's purpose for a short 33 years and stands just as it did 160 years ago. The only exceptions being the porch that was added in 1900 and the shingled roof that has replaced in recent years. But because there was no active congregation here for all these years, no modernization took place. It is still the same as it was with no electricity or plumbing. The bigger shock to many, is there is no padding on the pews.
It saddens the Old Church Society that the church is still recovering from the effects of vandalism. It has become come common to walk into this old church and find cigarette butts and alcohol containers strewn around the church. The alter rail, that frames the pulpit, has been completely destroyed and many windows continue to be broken.
Last year was the first year in many decades that there was not an annual service held on the second Sunday of August. The church is still in disrepair and the society regrets that there will not be a service this year. The hope, is that the repairs will be completed this year, with the help of local craftsmen, and annual services will be resumed in 2016.