coundation
The Watsonville First United Methodist Church is celebrating its 170th anniversary on Oct. 22, 2022. The Methodist congregation was established in Watsonville in 1852 when Rev. D.A. Dryden preached in a grove of cottonwoods & conducted a marriage ceremony on the banks of the Pajaro River. This was believed to be the first American wedding ceremony in the Pajaro Valley. (Marilyn Hyde, Church Historian, watsonville1stumc.org)