churches; Methodist (Methodist Episcopal and United Methodist) denomination
Marker Year
1995
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
No
Marker Location
Texas Annual Conference Mission Center, Archival Center (congregation dissolved, and marker moved from Houston in 2018).
Private Property
No
Marker Condition
In Situ
Marker Size
27" x 42"
Marker Text
In 1899 a group of Methodists from this area, known then as the Brunner Addition, met in a building known as McClure's Assembly Hall and organized the McAshan and City Mission Methodist Church. A sanctuary, built on this block in 1900, was destroyed by a severe storm that year. A new sanctuary was completed in 1901. The church was renamed McAshan and Brunner Methodist in 1904, Brunner Methodist in 1906 and Brunner and Epworth Methodist in 1913. When construction of a new church building began in 1917, it became known as West End Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The church acquired additional land here in 1940 which included a parsonage and provided a full block of frontage on Shepherd Drive. By 1942 the congregation was known as the Shepherd Drive Methodist Church. In 1954-55 a new church building containing 17 classrooms, a sanctuary, and a fellowship hall was built at this site. In 1959 Shepherd Drive Methodist Church merged with the Larkin Street Methodist Church, a nearby congregation organized in 1916. This congregation continues its traditional spiritual programs, support of youth and senior outreach programs, promotion of community gatherings, and involvement in civic and social issues affecting the area. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 - 1995
