First Presbyterian Church of Garland
Garland, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation traces its roots to April 22, 1888, when the Rev. Benjamin Spencer and twenty-five charter members organized a Cumberland Presbyterian congregation. The church served a diverse membership, including farmers, retail business owners, and others. Worship services were held in a variety of locations until the first sanctuary, a one-room frame building, was built on S. Ninth Street in 1901. It was replaced by a brick structure in 1929. This church remains a reminder of Garland's early religious history.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation traces its roots to April 22, 1888, when the Rev. Benjamin Spencer and twenty-five charter members organized a Cumberland Presbyterian church serving farmers, merchants, and others in early Garland. After worshiping in a variety of borrowed spaces, the members raised their first sanctuary—a one-room frame building—on South Ninth Street in 1901, replacing it with a brick structure in 1929. The church endures as a reminder of Garland's earliest religious life.
Why it matters
The congregation's founding and its move from a one-room frame chapel to a brick sanctuary track the growth of Garland from a small farming settlement into a lasting community.
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Related people
- · Benjamin Spencer
Themes & tags
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