A historic Alabama church with a building dating to 1858 was one of 10 churches officially closed on Monday during the annual meeting of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The Methodists of Uniontown purchased land in 1843, erected a church, then built a two-story Greek Revival-style brick building in 1858.

The stained-glass windows were added in 1921, when the gas chandeliers were replaced with electric lights. A new steeple was added in 1971.

The Uniontown United Methodist Church in Perry County is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Uniontown Historic District. It’s at the intersection of Highway 61 and North Street.

The seven Alabama churches closed included Uniontown in Perry County; Black United Methodist in Geneva County; Booth United Methodist in Autauga County; Wesley Chapel in Choctaw County; Memorial UMC on Broad Street in Selma in Dallas County; Central UMC in Elmore County; and Hills Chapel UMC in Ramer in Montgomery County.

The three Florida Panhandle churches that were closed included Bethlehem UMC in Holmes County; Midway UMC in Holmes County; and Springhill UMC in Jackson County.

Each of the churches “has a long and proud history but has been declining in membership and attendance for years,” the conference said in its statements closing the churches.

“These are things we do every year,” said Bishop David Graves, head of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. “Every year we have churches that have lived their life cycle and there’s all kinds of reasons for it, and there’s always something kind of sad about that.”

The properties of all the closed churches revert back to the conference, except in the case of Hills Chapel in Ramer, which will become the property of the Hills Chapel Cemetery Association. Hills Chapel in Ramer was organized in 1857 and the church building dates to 1937.