As chairman of the Board of Trustees of Moselle United Methodist Church, one of Gary Hodge’s responsibilities is to make sure the historic church building and its parking lot are well maintained.

It’s a job Hodge takes seriously since the nearly century-old church is the last of the traditionally-built churchs in south Jones County.

Looking at  upgrading the parking lot, Hodge discovered a fact that had been forgotten in the church’s history: the church did not own most of its parking lot.

Last week,  after using the lot for 95 years, the church became the official owners of the half-acre site thanks to the generosity of the Mississippi Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons.

“Really, I don’t think anyone remembered that the church did not own most of the parking lot we’ve used,” Hodge said.  Hodge said in order to upgrade the lot and for future needs, he found some older members of the Masonic Lodge, the group that actually owned the lot.

“That was two months ago and I can’t tell you how helpful members of the Mississippi Lodge have been,” Hodge said.

Leaders of the Mississippi Grand Lodge of Mississippi Free and Accepted Masons  gathered at the church at noon Tuesday to tour the building, meet with church members  and provide the church with its deed.

“We are delighted to help the church in this way, “ said William R. Robinson of Brandon, grand master of the Mississippi Lodge. “This is a beautiful church and we’re glad to resolve this issue for the members.”

The man responsible for researching the church’s history, Wilson A. Windham of Laurel, chairman of the finances for the state lodge, attended the presentation to the church Tuesday.

“No one I talked to ever told me they couldn’t help,” Hodge said. “Everyone was so helpful and we are especially grateful to Wilson for searching the records back to 1914,” Hodge said.

 A history of the Moselle community shows it was built by the location of sawmills in the area. First named, Albertson’s after one of the mill owners, the town was known as Tuscanola before Moselle became the official name.

Land for both the Methodist Church the adjacent Baptist church were donated by M.P. Ikler, a Mason and a New Englander, who owned one of the sawmills.

“He donated land for the Moselle school, the churches and for a Masonic Lodge,” said the Rev. Rodney Smith, church pastor.

Smith said the Methodist Church’s wooden structure with its 23-foot high ceiling in the sanctuary is made of tongue-and-groove heart pine.

“The church was built with lumber donated from the Iklers, designed on the New England style,” Smith said. “The church is unusual in that the steeple and pulpit are located at the entrance to the building.”