Smith County, Texas
BETHESDA PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - FM 2710, Northeast of Lindale - Subject Marker - 1994
CEDAR STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH - 1420 North Church, Tyler - Subject Marker - 1989
THIS CONGREGATION TRACES ITS HISTORY TO A SUNDAY SCHOOL ORGANIZED IN 1887 IN ONE OF THE NEW SUBURBAN NEIGHBORHOODS NORTH OF TYLER, CREATED TO SERVE PEOPLE LIVING AWAY FROM THE TOWN'S CENTRAL METHODIST CHURCH (NOW MARVIN UNITED METHODIST CHURCH). THE SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES MET IN HOMES UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1888, WHEN A NEW CONGREGATION WAS ORGANIZED UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE REV. LACY BOONE.
FIRST KNOWN AS TYLER CITY MISSION, THE CONGREGATION MET FOR WORSHIP SERVICES IN PRIVATE HOMES UNTIL THIS PROPERTY WAS ACQUIRED AND CONSTRUCTION WAS BEGUN ON A SANCTUARY IN EARLY 1889. THE CHURCH WAS RENAMED CEDAR STREET METHODIST CHURCH IN THE 1890s. AS THE CONGREGATION CONTINUED TO GROW, IT BECAME AN INTEGRAL PART OF ITS NEIGHBORHOOD. A NEW SANCTUARY WAS COMPLETED IN 1916 AND ADDITIONAL FACILITIES WERE BUILT IN SUCCEEDING YEARS. CONTINUED GROWTH RESULTED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF A LARGER AUDITORIUM IN 1948.
THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, CEDAR STREET METHODIST CHURCH HAS BEEN CLOSELY ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEIGHBORHOOD. ITS MEMBERSHIP HAS FLUCTUATED IN RESPONSE TO ECONOMIC AND PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE SURROUNDING AREA. IT CONTINUES TO SERVE A DIVERSE MEMBERSHIP AND REMAINS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE CITY OF TYLER. (1989)
CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH - 118 South Bois d'Arc, Tyler - Subject Marker - 1981
THE RT. REV. ALEXANDER GREGG, FIRST BISHOP OF TEXAS, BEGAN MISSIONARY WORK WITH THIS CONGREGATION IN 1866-1867. THE EARLIEST WORSHIP SERVICES WERE HELD IN BORROWED FACILITIES. THE FIRST RECTOR WAS HUNGARIAN-BORN EMIR BELA GYEITA CAROIS HAMVASY, WHO ARRIVED IN 1872. CHRIST CHURCH PARISH WAS ORGANIZED IN 1874 AND MOVED INTO A SMALL CHURCH BUILDING. PLANS FOR A LARGER BRICK STRUCTURE WERE FINALIZED IN 1918. THE REV. CHAUNCEY EDGAR SNODEN LED THE FIRST SERVICES IN THE BUILDING ON OCT. 6, 1918. TODAY THE CONGREGATION INCLUDES DESCENDANTS OF THE EARLIEST PARISHIONERS. (1981)
DAMASCUS BAPTIST CHURCH - FM 16, East of Lindale - Subject Marker
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF TYLER - 301 West Ferguson, Tyler Medallion and Plate - 1987 |
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF TYLERORGANIZED ON APRIL 8, 1848, WITH SIX CHARTER MEMBERS THIS CONGREGATION FIRST MET IN A LOG CABIN COURTHOUSE ON THE TOWN SQUARE. LED BY ELDERS W. H. RAY AND W. B. LANGSTON, SERVICES WERE HELD MONTHLY, WITH MEMBERS BEING CALLED BY THE BLOWING OF A HORN. AFTER A NEW COURTHOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1851 THE CHURCH MET IN THE ODD FELLOWS HALL AND THE U.S. FEDERAL COURTROOM. IN 1855, A BUILDING WAS ERECTED TO SERVE AS BOTH CHURCH AND SCHOOL, BUT IT WAS SOON DESTROYED IN A FIRE. A SECOND, BRICK CHURCH WAS BUILT IN 1859, AND IN 1882 WAS ALSO DESTROYED BY FIRE. A THIRD SANCTUARY ON NORTH BOIS D'ARC STREET, HOME TO THE CONGREGATION SINCE 1886 WAS DEDICATED IN 1889. ONE OF THE EARLIEST BAPTIST CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN TEXAS STILL IN EXISTENCE, IT WAS OFFICIALLY CHARTERED IN 1882 AS THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF TYLER. THE NAME BECAME FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF TYLER WHEN IT SPONSORED A MISSION, NOW CALVARY BAPTIST CHURCH, IN 1888. THE PRESENT CHURCH STRUCTURE WAS BUILT IN 1913, DURING THE PASTORATE OF DR. G. L. YATES. EDUCATIONAL WINGS WERE ADDED IN 1937, 1959 AND 1980. THE BEAUX ARTS STYLE SANCTUARY FEATURES MASSIVE COLUMNS, PEDIMENTED PORTICO, QUOINS, AND FULL ENTABLATURES. LATER ALTERATIONS INCLUDE MODERN STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - (1987) |
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF WHITEHOUSE - 801 E. Main, Whitehouse Subject Marker - 1989 |
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FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF WHITEHOUSE ANGLO SETTLEMENTS OF THIS AREA BEGAN IN THE 1840S. THE COMMUNITY OF WHITEHOUSE, WHICH GREW UP AROUND A WHITE PAINTED SCHOOLHOUSE, BEGAN IN THE EARLY 1850s. A CHURCH CONGREGATION, CALLED NEW HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, BAPTIST, WAS ORGANIZED IN SEPTEMBER 1869 BY ELDERS J. A. KINDLE AND W. G. CAPERTON AND ABOUT TWENTY-FIVE CHARTER MEMBERS. EARLY WORSHIP SERVICES WERE HELD ONCE A MONTH. IN 1887 A PLOT OF LAND WAS PURCHASED BY NEW HOPE BAPTIST CHURCH AND A ONE-ROOM SANCTUARY, NESTLED IN A PINE GROVE, WAS BUILT BY THE CONGREGATION. AFTER THE RAILROAD CAME THROUGH WHITEHOUSE IN THE 1870s AND A CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT BEGAN TO GROW, THE CHURCH WAS RELOCATED TO THE NEW TOWNSITE. A WHITE FRAME BUILDING WAS ERECTED IN 1901 AND THE NAME WAS CHANGED TO WHITEHOUSE BAPTIST CHURCH. IN 1923 THE CHURCH WAS RELOCATED ONCE AGAIN, TO A SITE ON EAST MAIN STREET. AT THAT TIME IT WAS ALSO RENAMED FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH. A NEW CHURCH FACILITY WAS ERECTED IN 1959 AND CONTINUED GROWTH LED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PRESENT SANCTUARY IN 1980. A PART OF SMITH COUNTY HISTORY FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH CONTINUES TO SERVE ITS MEMBERS AND THE COMMUNITY. (1989) |
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FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) OF TYLER - 4202 South Broadway, Tyler - Subject Marker - 1984
THE FIRST KNOWN RECORD OF A CHRISTIAN (DISCIPLES OF CHRIST) CHURCH IN TYLER APPEARS IN AN 1859 DEED THAT SECURED TITLE TO PROPERTY ON WHICH A RED BRICK SANCTUARY WAS BUILT. WITH THE OUTBREAK OF THE CIVIL WAR IN 1861, THE FELLOWSHIP WAS DISBANDED. FOR TWO DECADES TYLER HAD NO ACTIVE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST CONGREGATION ALTHOUGH A FEW OF THE MEMBERS CONTINUED TO CONDUCT A BIBLE SCHOOL.
IN 1889, J. J. LOCKHART, WHO WAS STATE EVANGELIST FOR THE TEXAS CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY SOCIETY, HELD A MEETING IN THE ALBERTSON OPERA HOUSE, AND A NEW CHURCH WAS ORGANIZED. THE CONGREGATION MET IN A TABERNACLE ON WEST ERWIN STREET BUT WAS WITHOUT A FULL-TIME MINISTER UNTIL 1906 WHEN THE REV. J .J. LOCKHART RETURNED TO TYLER AND BECAME THE PASTOR.
FROM 1889, THE MEMBERSHIP GREW, AND TWO ADDITIONAL SANCTUARIES WERE BUILT, A SUNDAY SCHOOL WAS ORGANIZED, A WOMEN'S MISSIONARY AUXILIARY WAS FORMED, AND YOUTH MINISTERS AND MISSIONARIES HAVE COME FROM THIS CHURCH.
THROUGHOUT ITS HISTORY, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF TYLER HAS PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN THE COMMUNITY AND IN THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST BROTHERHOOD. (1984)
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH. U. S. OF TROUP - Carolina and Calvert, Troup - Subject Marker - 1981
THE REV. W. W. BRIMM OF TYLER BEGAN CONDUCTING PRESBYTERIAN WORSHIP SERVICES IN THIS AREA IN 1873, SOON AFTER THE TOWN OF TROUP WAS PLATTED ALONG A LINE OF THE HOUSTON AND GREAT NORTHERN RAILROAD. UNDER HIS DIRECTION, THIS CHURCH WAS ORGANIZED THAT SAME YEAR WITH EIGHT CHARTER MEMBERS. THE FIRST RULING ELDER WAS COLONEL THOMAS W. BELL (1802-1876), WHO MOVED TO TEXAS FROM TENNESSEE IN 1849. AFTER SETTLING IN CANTON, NOW OMEN, WHERE HE OWNED A HOTEL, HE MOVED TO TROUP. A CHARTER MEMBER OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HE WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONGREGATION.
SERVICES WERE MOVED TO THIS SITE FROM TEMPORARY SANCTUARY IN 1876 WHEN TRUSTEES ACQUIRED THE LAND FROM THE RAILROAD COMPANY. A BUILDING HERE SERVED THE CONGREGATION UNTIL 1908-09 WHEN A NEW STRUCTURE WAS COMPLETED. DURING CONSTRUCTION OF THE FACILITY, SERVICES WERE HELD IN THE LOCAL MASONIC LODGE HALL.
FOR OVER A CENTURY THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, U.S. OF TROUP HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNITY. MANY PIONEER AREA SETTLERS AND EARLY CIVIC LEADERS WERE MEMBERS HERE. PARTIME PASTORS HAVE INCLUDED SEVERAL SEMINARY STUDENTS WHO LATER BECAME PROMINENT PRESBYTERIAN LEADERS.
IN EARLY 1857 THE REV. J. S. BLEDSOE BEGAN PREACHING IN A POST OAK GROVE NEAR THE HOPEWELL COMMUNITY. BY 1858 THE HOPEWELL BAPTIST CHURCH WAS ORGANIZED WITH 30 MEMBERS AND THE REV. J.S. BLEDSOE AS FIRST PASTOR. HARVEY YARBOROUGH DEEDED 10 ACRES NEAR HIS HOME TO THE CHURCH AND IN 1859 A STRUCTURE WAS ERECTED ON THE SITE. DURING RECONSTRUCTION, MEMBERS SPONSORED EX-SLAVES IN THE FORMATION OF THEIR OWN CHURCHES. IN 1973 A NEW BRICK BUILDING WAS DEDICATED AND IN 1994 A MODERN EDUCATIONAL BUILDING WAS ERECTED. IN 1998 THE CONGREGATION MARKED ITS 140TH YEAR OF CONTINUOUS WORSHIP SERVICES. (1998)
FIRST CHURCH IN SMITH COUNTY ORGANIZED 1848 BY THE REVS. SAM BOX AND ALEXANDER DOUGLAS. HAD ALL-FAITHS SERVICES AT FIRST IN LOG CABIN ON COURTHOUSE SQUARE, LATER IN ADAMS BLACKSMITH SHOP, SOUTH OF SQUARE. IN 1852 BUILT ACROSS STREET FROM THIS SITE, A 2-STORY CHURCH AND LODGE HALL IN COOPERATION WITH MASONS. PRESENT CHURCH, ERECTED 1890 (NOW TYLER'S OLDEST CHURCH) WAS NAMED IN 1891 TO HONOR BISHOP ENOCH MATHER MARVIN (1823-1877), C.S.A. CHAPLAIN, FAMED IN MISSOURI AND TEXAS FOR POWERFUL SERMONS. BUILDING WAS EXPANDED 1923, 1942, 1952. CHURCH HAS HAD 45 PASTORS.
RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK - 1968
PINE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH - CR 334, Northeast of Tyler - Subject Marker - 1981
PINE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCHIN 1881 E. S. COOK AND PERRY RAY, TRUSTEES FOR THE PINE SPRINGS SCHOOL COMMUNITY, PURCHASED NEARBY LAND FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A SCHOOLHOUSE. SOON AFTER, THE PINE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH OF CHRIST WAS ORGANIZED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE REV. MARCUS MORTON WADSWORTH (1841-1908), WHO SERVED AS THE FIRST PASTOR.
MONTHLY WORSHIP SERVICES WERE CONDUCTED IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE UNTIL A SEPARATE SANCTUARY WAS BUILT AT THIS SITE, NORTH OF THE SCHOOL IN THE EARLY 1890S. ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE CONGREGATIONAL NAME WAS CHANGED TO THE PINE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH.
THE FELLOWSHIP EXPERIENCED STEADY GROWTH DURING THE PASTORATE OF REV. TULLY CHOICE, 1894-1897. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA FRUIT GROWING AND CANNING INDUSTRY BROUGHT NEW MEMBERS AND A SUNDAY SCHOOL AND BIMONTHLY SERVICES WERE ESTABLISHED. REGULAR WEEKLY SERVICES BEGAN ABOUT 1935.
FOR OVER 100 YEARS PINE SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SURROUNDING AREA. MEMBERS HERE HAVE INCLUDED EARLY SETTLERS, SOLDIERS STATIONED AT NEARBY CAMP FANNIN DURING WORLD WAR II, SEVERAL PIONEERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AREA ROSE INDUSTRY, AND PROMINENT COMMUNITY LEADERS. (1981)
THIS CHURCH WAS ORGANIZED AS EARLY AS 1854 WHEN A DEED FOR 2.5 ACRES WAS ISSUED TO THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, ACCORDING TO ORAL HISTORY, THE CONGREGATION FIRST MET IN A LOG CABIN ON THE PROPERTY. THE STRUCTURE SERVED AS BOTH CHURCH AND SCHOOL. ORIGINALLY CALLED THE BLACK FORK CHURCH, THE CONGREGATION WAS KNOWN AS PLEASANT RETREAT SOCIETY IN 1861 AND WAS RENAMED PLEASANT RETREAT CHURCH BY 1875. AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE INCLUDED AMONG THE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP FROM ITS EARLY DAYS. IN JUNE 1877, THE CHURCH ACQUIRED LAND ON WHICH THE PLEASANT RETREAT CEMETERY WAS LATER ESTABLISHED. IN JULY, WILLIAM T. McCLURE, RECOGNIZED AS AN EARLY LEADER OF THE CONGREGATION, DEEDED 5.9 ACRES OF LAND ON WHICH THE CHURCH HELD POPULAR CAMP MEETINGS EACH AUGUST.
IN 1897 A WHITE FRAME CHURCH BUILDING WAS ERECTED NEAR THE CAMP MEETING TABERNACLE. THE BUILDING SERVED UNTIL 1928 WHEN FIRE DAMAGE PROMPTED THE MEMBERSHIP TO BUILD A NEW BRICK BUILDING ON DIXIE DRIVE ON LAND DONATED BY MEMBER WALTER E. BEAIRD. IN 1938 A FULL-TIME PREACHER WAS APPOINTED. THE CONGREGATION CONTINUED TO GROW, ITS FACILITIES EXPANDING AS NECESSARY. RENAMED THE PLEASANT RETREAT UNITED METHODIST CHURCH IN 1968, THE CHURCH IN THE HEART OF THE ROSE FIELDS OF TYLER CONTINUES A LONG TRADITION OF WORSHSHIP AND COMMUNITY SERVICE. (1998)
UNION CHAPEL CEMETERY AND CHURCH - US 110, West of Lindale - Subject Marker - 1986
THE EARLIEST MARKED GRAVE IN THIS CEMETERY, THAT OF OLIVE COSBY MAYNE, IS DATED AUGUST 1873, ONE MONTH BEFORE EARLY AREA SETTLER AMPLIAS SMITH DEEDED 3 ACRES OF LAND HERE FOR A METHODIST CHURCH AND CEMETERY. THE CONGREGATION SOON BUILT A SANCTUARY THAT SERVED UNTIL A NEW STRUCTURE WAS ERECTED IN 1949. SMITH AND OTHERS GAVE ADDITIONAL LAND OVER THE YEARS, THUS GREATLY ENLARGING THE SIZE OF THE CEMETERY. MANY MEMBER OS PIONEER FAMILIES IN THIS RURAL AREA ARE BURIED HERE, INCLUDING LAND DONOR AMPLIAS SMITH (1813-1888) AND HIS WIFE, MARTHA (1825-1883).
TEXAS SESQUICENTENNIAL 1836-1986
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