Cochran Chapel Methodist Church
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On first Dallas County site deeded (1856) for a Methodist church. Donor was a widow, Nancy Jane Cochran. First edifice (30' x 40') was built by church men, of lumber hauled by wagons from Jefferson (150 mi. E), and dedicated in 1858. The Sunday School dates from 1879. Later buildings were erected in 1885, 1924 and (Annex) 1955. 1970
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1856 the widow Nancy Jane Cochran deeded the first land in Dallas County set aside for a Methodist church; two years later the men of the congregation raised a modest frame sanctuary from lumber hauled 150 miles by wagon from Jefferson. Rebuilt across the generations, the congregation traces its Sunday School to 1879.
Why it matters
A pioneer widow's gift launched one of Dallas County's earliest congregations, marking the arrival of organized religion on the North Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · Nancy Jane Cochran
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
John Neely Bryan, 1810-1877 and Margaret Beeman Bryan, 1825-1919
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Alexander Cockrell_Sarah Horton Cockrell
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W. P. Cochran Homeplace
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Built in 1895 amid cultivated fields, this frame Victorian was home to William P. Cochran, son of a family that bought the land in 1851 and whose matriarch, Nancy Jane Cochran, had donated ground nearby for Cochran Chapel Methodist Church in 1856. The house sheltered Cochran, his wife Amanda, and their large family before passing to the adjacent church in 1964.
Cochran Chapel Cemetery
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Cochran Chapel Cemetery began in 1853 with the burials of Nancy Jane Hughes Cochran's infant daughter and husband. Among those laid to rest here are many Dallas County pioneers, including four of Nancy Jane's sisters and their husbands who had come from Tennessee in the 1840s and 1850s. The cemetery preserves the memory of the interlinked families who first settled the area.