The year was 1893. Colmar was, in relative terms, a boom town serving as a hub of agricultural activity for surrounding farms thanks to the long standing elevator operation.
Although an April, 2026 tornado destroyed the elevator, that didn’t contribute to the fate of the United Christian Church on Lamb Road, west of downtown Colmar. Its fate was sealed years earlier.
“Our pastor got cancer and died,” Clee Dixon said. “There were only six or seven of us left and three of them are 90 years old.”
That combination of facts brought the decision to sell the church property, along with the parsonage in apparently separate bidding. Only one hurdle, she explained, remained, that being a legal description for the property being offered for sale.
She noted that the property was not totally spared from the tornado’s wrath, with a storage building at the rear of the property being destroyed. But the church building and parsonage escaped unscathed.
One point that she emphasized in a phone interview was that she had no influence in terms of the final disposition of the proceeds. The church still has an operational board of trustees which will make that final decision.
She did indicate that potential beneficiaries would be nonprofits, but declined to offer specifics. “The church has no debt,” she said. “So they’re gonna get something. We’ll just donate it properly.”
In the end, an important part of Colmar’s history, like the members of the long standing church, will pass away, with only memories remaining. The horse drawn buggies, originally part of its scene, will be gone as well.
