First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth
Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Fort Worth Presbyterian Church was organized in 1873 with ten charter members. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, U. S. ("Southern"), the congregation built a frame sanctuary at the corner of 4th and Calhoun Streets. In 1886 the name was changed to First Presbyterian Church of Fort Worth, and a new stone structure was built in 1890. A Fort Worth congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church was formed in 1878. When the Cumberland Presbyterian Church affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. ("Northern") in 1906, the word Cumberland was dropped from the local church's name. Desiring to work together to serve the community with worship and missionary programs, the two Fort Worth congregations united in 1916 to form a federation, the first such union in Texas. The members met together and shared one pastor, but maintained separate national affiliations. The congregation erected a new edifice at this site, opening it on December 23, 1956. The "Southern" and "Northern" denominations united in 1983 to form the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). (1992)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1873 with ten charter members as a Southern Presbyterian congregation, this Fort Worth church built a frame sanctuary downtown, took its present name in 1886, and raised a stone building in 1890. In 1916 it joined with a formerly Cumberland Presbyterian congregation to form Texas's first such federation — two churches sharing a pastor while keeping separate national ties — a division healed nationally only when the denominations reunited in 1983.
Why it matters
The congregation's mergers mirror the long fracture and reconciliation of American Presbyterianism along the North-South lines drawn by the Civil War.
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Themes & tags
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