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LINTHICUM HEIGHTS ? More than two years after a fire, caused by lightning, seriously damaged Holly Run Chapel, the 178-year-old building was restored to its former glory. The Rev. David Shank led a service at its reopening, Nov. 5.

No one was in the building when lightning struck it on a July afternoon in 2004. About 60 firefighters minimized the fire, smoke and water damage, which amounted to $100,000 in value.

Holly Run Chapel, which dates back to 1828, was the first church built by the Methodist Protestant Church in the United States.

'It?s a piece of our history,' Shank told The Capital of Annapolis. 'When you walk into the chapel you can almost feel the presence of those who worshiped there many years ago. It?s our connection with the past.'

'People may not recognize the difference between how the chapel looks now and how it looked before the fire,' said June Allis, co-chairwoman of the trustees at Linthicum Heights UMC. The trustees and restoration committee reportedly made every effort to restore it to the original form.