First Presbyterian Church of Memphis
Memphis, Hall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in 1890 under the leadership of the Rev. A. W. Rogers, this church began with thirteen members. This sanctuary, the second for the congregation, was completed in 1911, during the pastorate of the Rev. Dr. R. T. Caldwell. Built by member J. S. Cobb, it features neo-classical revival detailing in the use of arched windows and a domed roof. Interior furnishings include a large pipe organ originally, powered by water pressure. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark-1980
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1890 with just thirteen members, this Panhandle congregation raised its second and grander sanctuary in 1911, built by church member J. S. Cobb in a neo-classical style marked by arched windows and a domed roof. Among its treasures was a large pipe organ originally driven by water pressure — an ingenious touch in a young prairie town. The building stands as a mark of how quickly settled institutions took root in the newly opened Panhandle.
Why it matters
A domed, water-powered-organ church rising in a Panhandle town barely two decades old shows the speed and ambition with which late-frontier communities built for permanence.
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Related people
- · A. W. Rogers
- · R. T. Caldwell
- · J. S. Cobb
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Hall County
Memphis, TX
Carved from the vast Young and Bexar districts, Hall County was created in 1876 and formally organized in 1890 as settlement pushed into the Texas Panhandle. It honors Warren D. C. Hall (1788-1867), a figure of the Texas Revolution era who sat in the 1832 San Felipe Convention and served as second in command of the Texans at the Anahuac disturbances that same year. Memphis was named the county seat.
Hall County Courthouse
Memphis, TX
Hall County was created in 1876 and organized in 1890 with Memphis as its seat. Two earlier courthouses — a frame building and a brick one — served before the county commissioned this three-story Classical Revival building, designed by the Austin firm Page and Brother and completed in the early 1920s. Its cast-stone columns, pediments, and fluted composite orders gave the county a dignified civic centerpiece.
Old Fairview Cemetery
Memphis, TX
Memphis's oldest burial ground was carved from the corner of the town plat just months before the community was chosen as the seat of Hall County, out on the Texas Panhandle plains. J.C. Montgomery, remembered as the "Father of Memphis," rests in its oldest section, and the earliest marked grave belongs to Ben F. Taylor, who died in 1890. Among the notable dead is W.A. Johnson—newspaper editor, state senator, and lieutenant governor of Texas—whose grave reflects the town's early prominence.
Shoe Bar Ranch Headquarters
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The Shoe Bar was the first ranch in Hall County, launched in the 1880s by pioneer cattlemen T.S. Bugbee and O.H. Nelson as the open range gave way to organized ranching. This thick-walled adobe headquarters, built around 1884 with clay bricks made on site, reflected the quirks of a nearsighted owner who installed just one outer door to guard against surprise visitors. In 1890 local citizens gathered here to organize Hall County's government.