First Methodist Church of Whitewright
Whitewright, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation traces its history to Sears Chapel (one mile southeast), a Union Church established in the late 1850s at the home of early settlers Christopher and Mary Sears. In 1876 the Sears family deeded the land on which the Sears Chapel Church building stood to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The village of Whitewright was established in 1878. The Methodist congregation associated with Sears Chapel organized the First Methodist Church of Whitewright in 1882. By 1885 the congregation had completed a sanctuary and a parsonage and was served by the Rev. W. M. Robbins, a circuit-riding Methodist preacher. A Sunday School, organized in 1886, averaged about 50 pupils during its early years of operation. A new sanctuary, built at this site in 1895, served the congregation for over 100 years. A new parsonage was completed in 1930, and in 1942 the church erected an education building. Major renovations to the church and education buildings were completed in 1979. The church, renamed First United Methodist Church in 1968, supports a variety of special annual events and continues to be active in many local and foreign outreach programs. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845 1995
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation grew from Sears Chapel, a shared 'Union Church' begun in the late 1850s at the home of early settlers Christopher and Mary Sears. After the village of Whitewright took shape in 1878, the congregation formally organized in 1882 and soon built a sanctuary, a parsonage, and a Sunday School. A new 1895 sanctuary served worshippers for more than a century as the church became a lasting anchor of community life.
Why it matters
It traces how frontier 'union' congregations matured into the settled churches at the heart of small Texas towns.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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