First Christian Church of Tyler
Tyler, Smith County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(Disciples of Christ) The first known record of a Christian (Disciples of Christ) church in Tyler appears in an 1859 deed that secured title to property on which a red brick sanctuary was built. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, the fellowship was disbanded. For two decades Tyler had no active Disciples of Christ congregation, although a few of the members continued to conduct a Bible school. In 1889, J. J. Lockhart, who was state evangelist for the Texas Christian Missionary Society, held a meeting in the Albertson Opera House, and a new church was organized. The congregation met in a tabernacle on West Erwin Street but was without a full-time minister until 1906, when the Rev. J. J. Lockhart returned to Tyler and became the pastor. From 1889, the membership grew, and two additional sanctuaries were built, a Sunday School was organized, a women's missionary auxiliary was formed, and youth activities were added. A large number of ministers and missionaries have come from this church. Throughout its history, the First Christian Church of Tyler has played an important role in the community and in the Disciples of Christ brotherhood.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Disciples of Christ first put down roots in Tyler by 1859, raising a red-brick sanctuary just before the Civil War scattered the fellowship in 1861. For two decades only a small Bible school kept the flame, until a state evangelist's 1889 revival in the Albertson Opera House organized a fresh congregation that met in a tabernacle on West Erwin Street. From that second founding the church grew steadily — new sanctuaries, a Sunday school, a women's missionary auxiliary — and sent out a notable number of ministers and missionaries.
Why it matters
It reflects the Restoration Movement's spread across 19th-century Texas and how the Civil War disrupted, then reshaped, the religious life of Southern towns.
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Related people
- · J. J. Lockhart
Themes & tags
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