First Presbyterian Church of Richardson
Richardson, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized on August 21, 1870, by the Rev. George L. Blewett (1821 - 1884) and twenty charter members, this church began as the Trinity Congregation of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Early worship services were held in the home of George Henry Blewett (son of the congregation's founder), who also donated land for the congregation's first sanctuary, a one-room frame structure. The church became known as the Richardson Presbyterian Church in 1909, and in 1910 relocated to a new sanctuary at Polk Street and Greenville Avenue. Additions were made to the building as the congregation grew, and in 1954 this site was acquired for a new church complex. A sanctuary completed in 1957 was replaced by a larger facility in 1988. Since 1983 the congregation has been known as First Presbyterian Church of Richardson. Throughout its history this church has served the community with a variety of religious, educational, and outreach programs. A Sunday School program begun in 1880 has grown to serve church members of all ages. Outreach efforts include involvement in community projects such as blood drives, medical clinics, and food and clothing pantries for the needy.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the years after the Civil War, as central Texas farming communities took root, a small band of twenty charter members gathered in 1870 under a Cumberland Presbyterian banner, worshiping first in a family home before raising a one-room frame sanctuary on donated land. Over the next century the congregation moved, grew, and rebuilt several times, taking the name First Presbyterian Church of Richardson in 1983. Its long-running Sunday School and outreach ministries—blood drives, clinics, and food pantries—kept it woven into the life of a town that grew up around it.
Why it matters
Congregations like this one anchored the social and charitable life of frontier and suburban Texas alike, showing how a single church can trace the growth of a community from a scattering of farms into a modern city.
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Related people
- · Rev. George L. Blewett
- · George Henry Blewett
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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