Iowa All Over: Little Brown Church still serving congregants today

NASHUA - Nestled in between the trees in Nashua, just north of Waterloo, sits the Little Brown Church in the Vale. The church originally was built in the 1860s and took four years to complete. Today, the tiny brown Congregational church continues to serve as a place of worship for some area congregants.

A small but active congregation still fills the pews on Sunday mornings.

One of those congregants is Donna Pierce, who knows a little something about its history. Pierce grew up in the area and recently began giving tours.

In 1857, when William Pitts was traveling from his Wisconsin home to Iowa to visit his bride-to-be, he passed through Bradford. He fell in love with the community and imagined a 'little church” in the middle of the town.

Back in Wisconsin, he wrote a song called, 'The Church in the Wildwood,” which described a little brown church in the vale.

Just a few years later, Rev. John Nutting, minister of the little fellowship of Christians in Old Bradford, drew plans for a church. Because it was during a war and white paint was expensive, the church was painted brown - the color it remains today.

In addition to the church, the members founded a school called the Bradford Academy. The position of music instructor was offered to William Pitts.

And to Pitts's amazement when he arrived, the very church from his song had cropped up before him.

Still the place for weddings

The church is tiny. Not more than 100 people could fit in the pews. There is ample leg room between each row, though.

The tin ceiling was installed in the 1920s, Pierce said.

There are arched windows throughout the church, with a tiny brown cross in the window panes.

Portraits hang on the walls, including one of Pitts.

Modern accommodations have been added to make the church more accessible. The building is handicap accessible, but you have to walk outside to reach the restroom.

For years, the church has been a popular place for weddings, which first were held at the church in 1912.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1937, there were 17 weddings performed. One Valentine's Day, more than 27 couples were married in one day.

By 2014, more than 73,800 couples have tied the knot at the church.

Per tradition, couples pull a rope together to ring the church bell.

The lawn outside the building can accommodate additional guests the church can't. Pierce's daughter, Colleen Sole of Cedar Falls, was married on the church grounds. There were 200 guests for the wedding.

'We had too many visitors for the church so we just held it outside instead,” Pierce said.

For more than 60 years, a marriage reunion is held at the church on the first Sunday in August. Hundreds of couples come to renew their wedding vows.

The namesake song, 'The Church in the Wildwood,” is sung at the conclusion of every service, Pierce said.

More on Nashua

' Nashua is in Chickasaw County.

' The town was founded in 1869.

' The 2013 population estimate of Chickasaw County was 12,321, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

If you go

What: The Little Brown Church in the Vale

Where: 2730 Cheyenne Ave., Nashua

Tours: Call (641) 435-2027. Appointments are not needed to stop by.

Online: littlebrownchurch.org