St. John’s is one of oldest churches in Butler

Known as the Vilmar church, St. John's Lutheran Church is actually located in rural Greene.

The second reverend of the church, Conrad Weltner (1883-1928), named the town Vilmar after one of his professors in Germany, but it no longer exists.

The 131-year-old structure is one of the oldest churches in Butler County. With the area inhabited by German immigrants in 1876, nearly all the names on headstones at South Vilmar Cemetery, right next to the church, are German too.

The historic building still has the original organ, Jesus statue and pulpit. The organ has been completely restored, and a roof is in the process of getting put on.

Read full story in the Sept. 25 Clarksville Star and Tribune-Journal.