First Methodist Church (First United Methodist Church; Methodist Episcopal Church of South Marshall) is a ruined historic

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

at 300 E. Houston Street in

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of ...

. It has also been known as First United Methodist Church and as Methodist Episcopal Church of South Marshall. It is a stuccoed brick

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

-style church with a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

having four monumental square columns; such architecture is rare in Texas. It was added to the National Register in 1980. A fire on the morning of December 9, 2024 destroyed most of the structure and left the building in ruins. It was documented in 1936 by the

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. The portico was originally topped by a belfry but that was replaced in 1949 by a large octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

. It was built during 1860 to 1861, probably by slave labor. Its builders included mason Alexander Pope and carpenter Billingon Smalley. It was expanded in 1949 and in 1958. Enoch Mather Marvin served at First Methodist and was elevated to Bishop of Trans-Mississippi Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South during his tenure in Marshall. Marvin Methodist Episcopal Church, South in Tyler is named after him. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, Confederate supplies were stored in the basement and it was the site of organization for the war effort. It was the site of the first conference, in 1862, of the Trans-Mississippi states convened by Confederate President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

. Texas Governor

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Lubbock County. With a population of 272,086 in 2024, Lubbock is the 10th-most populous city in Texas and the 84th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the ...

, Missouri Governor

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

, and representatives of Arkansas and Louisiana participated. (accessible by searching withi
National Archives Catalog
) Image:First_Methodist_Church,_Marshall,_Texas.jpg, HABS photo of the North face of First Methodist in 1936. Image:Historic American Buildings Survey, Harry L. Starnes, Photographer November 18, 1936 REAR AND EAST SIDE ELEVATION. - First Methodist Church South, 300 East Houston Street, HABS TEX,102-MARSH,3-2.tif, HABS photo of the West face of First Methodist in 1936. Image:1st Methodist Church Marshall, Texas.jpg, North face of First Methodist Church in 2005. Image:FirstMethodistChurchMarshall.jpg, North and west faces of First Methodist Church in 2015. Image:First Methodist Marshall Fire 12-9-2024.jpg, First Methodist burns for the eleventh hour as fire crews from Marshall and Longview fight it as an excavator is brought in to demolish the western wall. Image:First Methodist Marshall Ruins 12-10-2024.jpg, First Methodist stands in ruins on the afternoon of December 10, 2024 after the fire.

References

External links

First United Methodist Church-Marshall
from the Center for Regional Heritage Research,

Stephen F. Austin State University Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU or SFA) is a public university in Nacogdoches, Texas, in the United States. Named after Stephen F. Austin, one of the founders of Texas, SFA was founded as a teachers college in 1923 and built on part ...

Methodist churches in Texas Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Churches completed in 1860 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Harrison County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Harrison County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks Global Methodist churches in the United States {{HarrisonCountyTX-NRHP-stub

See also

References

External links