A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church
Alto, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Circuit riding preachers served the Methodists of this community as early as 1845. The first written records of this church date from 1852, when the Rev. Andrew Cummings (1817-1882) organized the fellowship as a station of the newly established Rusk circuit. Originally a Methodist society, it became in 1866 the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Alto. Early services were held in the schoolhouse. In 1887 A. C. Harrison (1841-1924) and his wife Virginia (1843-1912) donated land at the site of the present-day parsonage for the congregation's first church building. Dr. C. W. Fisher, Mrs. Harrison's brother, designed the one-room spired structure and built a scale model of it. The building was enlarged under the leadership of the Rev. J. W. Johnson, who was named pastor in 1909, when Alto became a full-time station with weekly services. A new sanctuary was built on the present site in 1921. It was dedicated in 1935 at a ceremony led by Bishop A. Frank Smith (1889-1962), who began his ministry as interim pastor of this church. In 1960 the present building was erected and the congregation renamed to honor Bishop Smith.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Circuit-riding preachers reached this community by 1845, and the Rev. Andrew Cummings formally organized the congregation in 1852 as part of the new Rusk circuit. Meeting first in a schoolhouse and worshiping in a succession of buildings donated and designed by local families, the church grew into a full-time station and in 1960 took the name of Bishop A. Frank Smith, who began his ministry here.
Why it matters
From frontier circuit riders to a bishop's namesake, this church charts more than a century of Methodist life taking root and maturing in East Texas.
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Related people
- · Rev. Andrew Cummings
- · A. C. Harrison
- · Bishop A. Frank Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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Site of Lacy's Fort
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Before 1835, Martin Lacy—an Indian agent for the Mexican government—built this home and trading post on the East Texas frontier. When the Killough family was attacked on October 5, 1838, in what became known as one of the largest such incidents in the region, settlers fled to Lacy's Fort for refuge amid the turmoil between Anglo colonists and Native peoples during the young Republic of Texas.
Chief Bowles' Last Homesite
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In 1836 Sam Houston negotiated a treaty recognizing the Cherokees' right to the East Texas lands they occupied, where their leading figure was Duwali — known also as Bowl or Chief Bowles. But after the Texas Revolution the Senate of the new Republic voided the treaty, and in 1839 President Mirabeau B. Lamar ordered the Cherokee expelled. Learning of the order near this site, Bowles rallied his people to resist and was killed at the Battle of the Neches on July 16, 1839.