Details for First Methodist Church of Goldthwaite

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5333001754

Data

Marker Number 1754
Atlas Number 5333001754
Marker Title First Methodist Church of Goldthwaite
Index Entry First Methodist Church of Goldthwaite
Address 1011 Hutchings Street
City Goldthwaite
County Mills
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 540628
UTM Northing 3479460
Subject Codes Methodist (Methodist Episcopal and United Methodist) denomination; churches
Marker Year 1992
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location 1011 Hutchings Street, (1312 5th Street)
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text Goldthwaite Methodists trace their history to the mid-1850s, when circuit-riding preachers began traveling to the area to minister to early permanent settlers. The pioneers gathered for services in private homes, out of doors, or in a one-room schoolhouse. For a time they were led by The Rev. H. Childress, who was known as the "bear-hunting preacher" because of the firearms he carried for protection while traveling. In 1885, the Santa Fe Railway founded the town of Goldthwaite. The town's railroad crew and passengers formed a ready market for goods and services, attracting new residents, who formed a local congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, that year. The Rev. C. V. Oswalt was the first pastor, and within two years the congregation completed its first church structure, a wood frame building. Since that time, the congregation has built several progressively larger church structures to accommodate its growth. Due to denominational mergers, the congregation changed its name to the First Methodist Church in 1939, and to the First United Methodist Church in 1968. Active in missionary and social service since its beginning, the First Methodist Church remains an important part of the religious life of this community.
ATLAS_NUM=5333001754

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