I confirmed with the person who submitted the question (see previous post) that this monument, located at Asbury United Methodist Church on Grand Avenue, is in fact the one she was looking for; she said she remembered it from the vicinity of 45th Avenue West and First Street.
It’s a big granite boulder with "Oneota" carved at the bottom. The plaque recognizes not all the Merritt brothers, but instead one of them – Rev. Lucien F. Merritt. Here is a closer view:
Now, given some more time, I’d look into just how this monument made its way from its old location to its new location – but I’m short on time right now. I assume there is some connection between Asbury United Methodist and the church mentioned on the plaque. If anyone wants to fill in the gaps, please post a comment or e-mail me at akrueger@duluthnews.com.
Asbury Methodist Church and the Merritt Memorial Church merged together in the early 1920′s. They moved the Merritt church building to Central Avenue and renamed it Central Avenue Methodist.
In the 1990′s, the school bought the property to make it into a parking lot and tore the old building down. The church then built the new one on Grand Avenue and changed the name back to Asbury because “Central Avenue” no longer fit the location.
If I remember from my childhood, the church at
45th and________________St. is the location of
the church which Rev. Merritt pastored. I do
not remember the name; however, that church was moved to Central Avenue and placed across from
West. Jr. High/Laura McCarthur Elemtary School
and was known as Central Avenue United Methodist Church for many years. That congregation mergered with several other Methodist congrgations
(Bethany, for one) and Asbury Church was built and the Central Aveune UMC was razed in the 1990′s.
I remeber this plaque which was situtated at the
Oneota Park. Wow-how that great old neighborhood
has changed. Asbury Church is a great location for this plaque.
Might be the same plaque from my childhood, but the rock looks newer and smaller. Of course it’s been many years since I’ve seen it. I remember the stone as being much darker. I might have to run out there myself to have a look. Thanks for posting this!