First Christian Church
Snyder, Scurry County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1898 with eight charter member families: Messrs. and Mmes. W. T. Baze, A. D. Dodson, F. M. German, W. B. Stanfield, I. W. Wasson, A. C. Wilmeth; Mlles. Clare Dodson, Lola Morris; and Mrs. Nannie German. First building was erected on deep creek on land donated by A. C. Wilmeth. Some members had to wade creek after rains. The church was octagonal in shape, but known as "Little Round Church." Membership growth, 1909, required removal and remodeling. In 1950, congregation doubled after oil discovery. The present church was erected in 1953. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Eight founding families gathered in 1898 to organize this congregation on the West Texas plains, building their first sanctuary on land donated by A. C. Wilmeth beside Deep Creek—where worshippers sometimes had to wade the swollen water after a rain. The distinctive octagonal building earned the affectionate nickname "Little Round Church." Growth forced a move in 1909, and after oil transformed Snyder's fortunes the congregation doubled by 1950, raising its present church in 1953.
Why it matters
The church traces how faith communities anchored the settlement of the West Texas frontier and later rode the boom that oil brought to towns like Snyder.
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Related people
- · A. C. Wilmeth
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Stanfield House, 1910
Snyder, TX
Mrs. W. B. Stanfield, wife of a Snyder rancher, lived in this home for more than fifty years. She sketched out the plans herself and handed them to a wandering architect passing through from Fort Worth. The result featured fine oak woodwork, pine floors, and leaded glass panels at the entry—comforts of settled prosperity on the West Texas ranching frontier.
E. W. Clark House, 1908
Snyder, TX
Built in 1908 as a rancher's town home in Snyder, the E. W. Clark House was a social center outfitted to last, with solid brass hardware, beveled-glass doors, and embossed leather wainscoting. Such in-town residences let West Texas ranching families enjoy the comforts and society of the county seat while their operations ran out on the range. It was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1964.
The Prairie Dog (Cynomys Ludovicianus)
Snyder, TX
Once numbering in the billions across the Texas plains, the prairie dog was as much a fixture of the Old West as the longhorn, its yipping colonies riddling the range with elaborate branching burrows. Branded a pest by ranchers and farmers, the little rodent was poisoned nearly out of existence — which is why in 1964 a town was set aside expressly to keep a remnant of the vanishing species alive.
Scurry County Jail of 1912
Snyder, TX
By 1911 Scurry County's two earlier jails, built in 1884 and 1886, had proven too small, so the commissioners court used bond money to purchase this site and raise a sturdy brick building, finished with local labor in 1912. The jailer and his family lived on the first floor, while prisoner cells and even a small hospital occupied the upper two stories. A grim feature set into the design was a trapdoor meant to serve as a hanging gallows. The jail did its duty for more than sixty years.