First Methodist Church of Tulia
Tulia, Swisher County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Reverend R. M. Morris, area presiding elder Jerome Harelson, and seventeen charter members organized this congregation in 1891. Early worship services, held on alternate Sundays in conjunction with the local Baptist and Presbyterian congregations, were conducted in the town's one-room schoolhouse. With financial and labor assistance from the entire community, the Methodists built the town's first church building in 1897 with lumber hauled from Amarillo. The tradition of shared services continued, and the Baptist and Presbyterian congregations also worshiped in the Methodist church building until their own facilities were built. Church membership grew steadily, closely paralleling Tulia's population growth. A new sanctuary was completed in 1929, and by the early 1960s additional facilities were required to meet the congregation's needs. After a denominational name change in 1968, it became known as First United Methodist Church. In 1979, the congregation welcomed the membership of Trinity United Methodist Church in a merger of the two congregations. First United Church continues to serve the citizens of Tulia with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1891 a handful of Methodists organized this congregation on the raw Panhandle plains, worshipping in the town's one-room schoolhouse alongside Baptists and Presbyterians. With community labor and lumber hauled all the way from Amarillo, they raised Tulia's first church building in 1897, which neighboring congregations also used until they built their own. The church grew with the town, adding a sanctuary in 1929 and taking its United Methodist name after a 1968 merger.
Why it matters
It shows how a shared frontier meetinghouse could anchor an entire young town's civic and spiritual life on the newly settled High Plains.
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Related people
- · R. M. Morris
- · Jerome Harelson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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