First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Kingsville, Kleberg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
ON OCT. 11, 1911, THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF KINGSVILLE WAS ORGANIZED, MANY OF ITS CHARTER MEMBERS BEING EMPLOYEES OF THE TOWN’S NEW RAILROAD. WHEN THERE WAS A LACK OF FUNDS TO CONSTRUCT A CHURCH, THE COMMUNITY RESPONDED WITH DONATIONS, ALLOWING BUILDING TO BEGIN IN 1913. THE PRESENT STRUCTURE, HOWEVER, IS FROM A SEPARATE 1955 PROJECT. OVER THE YEARS, THE CHURCH HAS WEATHERED THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1922, THE WORLD WARS, AND THE GREAT DEPRESSION. IT HAS DEDICATED MUCH TO THE PUBLIC THROUGH ITS WOMEN’S GROUPS, LANGUAGE SCHOOL, AND FOOD PROGRAMS, THEREBY FULFILLING ITS COVENANT TO STRENGTHEN AND HEAL THE COMMUNITY WHILE SHARING GOD’S GIFTS.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1911 by charter members drawn largely from the workforce of Kingsville's brand-new railroad, this Disciples of Christ congregation raised its first building on community donations in 1913. The present sanctuary dates to a 1955 project, and across the decades the church endured the bitter 1922 railroad strike, two world wars and the Great Depression. Its language school, women's groups and food programs extended its reach well beyond Sunday worship.
Why it matters
It shows how a railroad boomtown's newcomers built lasting civic and spiritual institutions, weaving faith into the social fabric of an emerging South Texas community.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related events
- · Great Railroad Strike of 1922
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Presbyterian Pan American School
Kingsville, TX
Rooted in the Mexican-American Presbyterian congregations that took hold in Texas in the 1890s and grew after the upheaval of the Mexican Revolution, this school began in 1912 as an industrial institute for boys on 640 acres donated by ranching matriarch Henrietta King. A companion school for girls followed in 1924, and in 1955 the two merged into the Presbyterian Pan American School, whose 1957 campus was designed by celebrated Texas architect O'Neil Ford. By the 1960s it drew students from across the United States and from Latin America, Africa and Asia.
St. Paul Lutheran Church and School
Bishop, TX
In December 1911 a small band of Wendish Lutheran families — descendants of a Slavic minority from central Europe — organized St. Paul Lutheran Church in the rural community of Concordia, on land donated by one of their own. From the start their new building doubled as a schoolhouse, reflecting a deep commitment to both faith and learning, and one teacher would serve the parochial school for over forty years. The congregation grew, built larger churches, and eventually relocated to Bishop in the 1960s.
St. John Nepomucene Catholic Church
Robstown, TX
As German and Moravian families settled the Robstown area to farm, Czech-speaking Catholics had no church offering worship in their native language until they bought a former Methodist building in 1924 and named it for St. John Nepomucene, a saint beloved among Czech Catholics. Under Father George Scecina, who led the parish for 49 years, it added a new church, a rectory, a convent, and a school that graduated high-school classes into the 1970s.
Old Saint Anthony's Catholic Church
Violet, TX
In the early 20th century, German Catholic farm families settling the community once called Land Siding — later Violet — organized their own parish and raised a modest frame building that doubled as church and schoolhouse. Enlarged and crowned with three towers in 1919, it anchored the little farming settlement for decades. When a larger church replaced it in 1952, the old structure was moved and eventually restored as a community museum.