The history of Temperanceville United Church stretches back to 1804, when James and Mary Love, devout Methodists from Pennsylvania, first settled in the area and held services in their home. The Loves were strict abstainers from "intoxicating liquors" and thus set the tone for the establishment of a series of Temperance societies that by 1871 had lent their name to the community.

By 1809, a log church had been erected on the site of the present building. John Love deeded one acre of his farm for the church and cemetery to the Trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1835. In 1854, the log structure was replaced by a brick church. Towards the end of the last century, the 1854 building was seriously deteriorating, requiring its replacement with a new brick church in 1897. With the Church Union in 1925, the church became Temperanceville United.

Temperanceville United Church is a simple country church built to serve the modest needs of a rural congregation. The form of the building is firmly rooted in the Classical tradition, with a simple rectangular plan, the main entrance centred on the south gable end, and a balanced arrangement of window openings. Although the basic form of the church is Classical, the steep gable roof, lancet windows and brick buttresses place the building in the stylistic category of the Romantic Gothic Revival.

Decorative details include stained glass windows and transom light, a circular louvred vent in the south gable, brick voussoirs, brick copings on the buttresses, brick plinth, false tuckpointing on the brickwork and stone foundation, and a sandstone name and date stones.

The cemetery is also a significant feature of the property, with its marble headstones recording the names of many of the community's early families such as Love, Beynon, Hughey and Saigeon. The earliest marker noted in a history of the church is that of Mary Hughey, who died in 1838. Carved details include the popular weeping willow motif as well as the open bible, ascending dove and others.

Description of Temperanceville United Church courtesy of the Richmond Hill Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee (LACAC).

To browse through the cemetery, click here.