On January 13, 1904, the Methodist Church and an adjacent schoolhouse located at Shaftsbury Depot were completely destroyed by fire.

The fire broke out in the schoolhouse during the afternoon and wind spread the flames to the Methodist Church.

Shaftsbury is made up of several different sections of town, and this particular location has very few people. Nobody was present when the fire broke out, and that was compounded by the fact that, in 1904, Shaftsbury was also without a fire department.

Before anyone knew, and before anyone could do anything, both buildings were completely destroyed.