As more settlers arrived, the Methodist Episcopal Church continued to grow until the division that brought on the Civil War in the nation also caused a split in the congregation. After the war, the church was reorganized as the Methodist Episcopal Church and M.E. Church South, which occupied a frame building on the corner of Jefferson and Harrison Streets. In 1881 the M.E. Church South congregation moved to a new brick building on the corner of West Columbia and Clay Streets. They soon outgrew this facility, tore it down, and built a new brick building on the same site. (This is now occupied by the Free Will Baptist Church.)