Central Presbyterian Church
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation traces its roots to October 13, 1839, when Austin's first Presbyterian worship service was held at Bullock's Hotel. Present that day was builder Abner Cook, elder in the first Presbyterian church organized in Austin. He helped acquire this property for the Presbyterian Church (South) following a post-Civil War split in the church. A sanctuary was completed on the site in 1874. This congregation was known in later years as Southern Presbyterian Church, the Free Presbyterian Church, First Southern Presbyterian Church, and Central Presbyterian Church. It has counted among its members many individuals important in the life of the denomination and the city of Austin, including Gov. Francis R. Lubbock; William Sidney Porter (O. Henry); A.N. and Jane Y. McCallum; Dr. George Clark and Rebecca Kilgore Stuart Red; and U.S. Attorney General Thomas Watt Gregory. The Rev. Richmond Kelley Smoot played an important role in the national denomination and in the development of the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. This congregation was instrumental in organizing five Presbyterian churches in Austin. It continues a program of ministry, outreach and cultural events. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Central Presbyterian traces its origins to October 1839, when Austin's first Presbyterian service was held in Bullock's Hotel—the city itself barely a year old as the Republic's capital. Builder Abner Cook, an elder of that first church, helped secure this property after a post–Civil War split within Presbyterianism, and a sanctuary rose here in 1874. Its rolls read like an Austin who's-who, including Gov. Francis Lubbock, the writer O. Henry, and U.S. Attorney General Thomas Watt Gregory, and its ministers helped found the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Why it matters
The congregation's shifting names mirror the sectional rupture that split American churches North and South over slavery and the Civil War. As a mother church that spawned five others and a seminary, it helped organize religious and civic life in the capital.
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Related people
- · Abner Cook
- · Francis R. Lubbock
- · William Sidney Porter (O. Henry)
- · Thomas Watt Gregory
- · Richmond Kelley Smoot
Related events
- · Post–Civil War Presbyterian schism
Themes & tags
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