Central Presbyterian Church
Paris, Lamar County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation, established during the Republic of Texas period, was organized as the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church on November 4, 1844, by the Rev. Samuel J. Corley, a circuit-riding minister. The first church building was erected in 1847. Under the leadership of the Rev. C. J. Bradley the church built a new sanctuary in 1859 at a site near downtown Paris. During the pastorate (1880-1908) of Dr. Charles Manton the congregation erected a new sanctuary (1891) and experienced tremendous growth. Flags throughout the community were flown at half-mast on the day of Dr. Manton's funeral in recognition of his many civic contributions. The congregation officially changed its name to Central Presbyterian Church in 1912. The 1891 sanctuary, destroyed in the devastating 1916 Paris fire, was replaced during the tenure of the Rev. L. C. Kirkes with this Gothic revival style sanctuary in 1917. Designed by Thomas Broad of the firm of Curtis, Broad, & Lightfoot, it features extensive stained glass by the Ford Brothers Glass Company in Minneapolis. Educational facilities have been added over the years. The congregation, noted for its education and music programs, is a leading civic institution that continues to provide spiritual guidance to the community. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1994 Incise on front: Estate of Francenia Hicks
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1844 during the Republic of Texas as the First Cumberland Presbyterian Church, this Paris congregation was founded by circuit-riding minister Samuel J. Corley. It grew through the long pastorate of Dr. Charles Manton, whose 1908 funeral drew flags to half-mast across town. After the devastating 1916 Paris fire destroyed its 1891 sanctuary, the congregation raised this Gothic Revival church in 1917, rich with stained glass and known for its music and education programs.
Why it matters
The church traces North Texas's growth from Republic-era circuit riders to an established civic institution that rebuilt after one of the state's worst urban fires.
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Related people
- · Samuel J. Corley
- · Charles Manton
Related events
- · 1916 Paris fire
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Baptist Church of Paris
Paris, TX
The Rev. Willis M. Pickett and six charter members organized the Union Baptist Church of Paris in 1854, and it grew into First Baptist Church. Among its pastors was the Rev. Robert Cooke Buckner, whose concern for orphans while at Paris grew into the wide-reaching Buckner Baptist Benevolences. The congregation lost its 1895 building to the great Paris fire of 1916 but rebuilt and continued a long record of local and foreign mission work.
Robert Cooke Buckner
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Robert Cooke Buckner arrived in Texas in 1859 and became a leading Baptist minister, pastoring this Paris congregation and helping charter the first Ladies' Aid group in the state. In 1877 he founded a Baptist orphans' home, giving the first dollar himself under a shady oak in Dallas. That seed grew into the sprawling network of charities known today as Buckner Benevolences.
Lamar County
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Carved from Red River County in 1840 and organized the following year, Lamar County honors Mirabeau B. Lamar, second president of the Republic of Texas and a champion of public education remembered as the 'Father of Texas education.' The county seat wandered in its early years — from Lafayette to Mount Vernon before settling at Paris, a town first known by the homely name Pinhook.
Antioch Cemetery and Old Antioch Church of Christ
Biardstown, TX
Founded in the first years of Texas statehood between 1846 and 1848, this was the first Church of Christ in Lamar County, organized by Elder Thomas Barrett with the pioneer family of Rebecca Stone Biard, who had come from Alabama to start the Biardstown community. William W. Biard donated his 20-foot log cabin—outfitted with split-log seats and a stick-and-dirt chimney—for the first sanctuary, and at his mother's death in 1848 he gave the land for the cemetery, where her grave was the first. Both the log church and its successor doubled as community schools, and though the congregation disbanded around 1920, burials continue to this day.