Burton was founded in 1892 by Miles Hatch and named after Burton Township, where he was born in Illinois. Hatch was an early Vashon entrepreneur and developer, building a major building in Burton, starting Vashon College in 1892, developing his Mileta Farm (named for the first two letters in Miles, son Lewis and wife Tamara) as a large dairy operation and owning the sawmill at Assembly Point, where Camp Burton is today. 

The Reverend Samuel Beaven, a Welsh Baptist minister and carpenter, founded the Burton Church in 1893 and served as the church’s leader from 1893 to 1911. He was also instrumental in establishing the Baptist Missionary Home on the Burton Peninsula, which was constructed in 1895 and torn down in 1967.

The current church was built in 1897 and has remained in continual use. Originally a Baptist church, in 1928 it was reorganized as the Burton Community Church and has been a multi-denominational church since.

The original photo is from the mid-1920s after a basement and new bathrooms at the back of the building were added in 1920. The electric wires running in front of the church and the number of wires indicate a date well into the electrification of the Island. The newly planted tree at the left front of the church also helps us date the photograph. The mature tree in the current photograph is at least 80 years old and places the photograph after the 1920 additions and before 1930.

The parsonage, which was built in 1907, is clearly seen in the original photograph, peeking its gable from behind the church. The parsonage housed clergy members until it was removed in 1957 when Lewis Hall — with offices and meeting rooms — was built. A new parsonage was built north of the church at Newport between Burton and Judd Creek in 1963.

The sanctuary of the church was remodeled in 1965, and the North Room in 1971. During the 1920 renovations, square nails from the church’s original construction were uncovered by Clarence Young, who formed them into a cross that is still on display in the church.

The modern photograph was taken closer to the church and from a different angle so the large tree, which was just small and newly planted in the original photograph, would not obscure the building.

— Bruce Haulman is an Island historian. Terry Donnelly is a

nationally recognized landscape photographer.