Churchill is a ghost town near Hector. Its only building, a church built in 1901, as the Methodist Episcopal Church in Brookfield Township, will meet the wrecking ball soon if no interest is shown in the white clapboard structure.

The Renville County Historical Society has owned the building since 1979, and it is putting all or parts of it up for grabs. Director Jill Wohnoutka said, “We do not have a definite date on demolition. If anyone is interested in the whole church, we would be more than happy to talk to them.”

Church members voted in 1976 to consolidate with Hector United Methodist Church, and the historical society purchased the church building for $1. Historical society members talked about moving it to a complex of historic buildings on its museum site in Morton. Hopes of raising money for the move fell through.

Now, the organization is open to talk to anyone interested in all or parts of the church.

The congregation was organized in 1876. The original building was constructed in 1901 by John S. Moss and J.F. Pickard of Hector. The Hallquist brothers rebuilt the church in 1941 moving it back from the road and adding a basement.

Wohnoutka can be reached at the Renville Historical Society at (507) 697-6147.