First United Methodist Church of Arlington
Arlington, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation was established soon after the Texas and Pacific Railroad line was laid through Arlington. In 1877 the Rev. J.T. L. Annis was appointed pastor of the Arlington circuit, which served several area communities, including Arlington. Some of the fellowship's early worship services were held at Schultz's Lumber Yard on Front Street. By 1900, however, a small frame church building had been erected at this site, and Sunday schools, mission activities, and a women's division had been organized. Church membership continued to grow over the years, and facilities were added and expanded to meet the need. Known as Centenary Methodist Episcopal Church, South, until 1948, the congregation then was called First Methodist Church of Arlington until 1968, when the current name was adopted. First United Methodist Church of Arlington historically has been a strong supporter of youth programs, the business and professional communities, the elderly, and education. Numerous Arlington schools have been named for members of this congregation who have provided significant service to community education. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As the Texas and Pacific Railroad pushed across North Texas in the 1870s, new congregations sprang up in the towns it created, often meeting wherever they could—here, reportedly in a lumber yard—before raising permanent buildings. This Methodist fellowship grew alongside Arlington itself, changing its name across the decades. Over the years its members lent their names to numerous local schools.
Why it matters
The story of a town's churches is often the story of the town, showing how faith communities anchored education, civic life, and growth in a young Texas railroad settlement.
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Related people
- · J.T. L. Annis
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Handley United Methodist Church
Fort Worth, TX
Organized in 1877 just after the railroad created the town of Handley, this congregation was first led by the Rev. J. J. Cannafax, who doubled as the community's first schoolteacher. Early services were held in the one-room schoolhouse until a shared Union Church was built in 1882, where Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, and others worshiped together until 1907. The bell at this site survives from that old Union Church.
Bankhead Highway Through Arlington
Arlington, TX
The road through Arlington began as a humble wagon route linking Dallas and Fort Worth long before the town was platted. Designated State Highway 1 by the new Texas Highway Department in 1917, it became part of the Bankhead Highway in 1920 — a transcontinental auto trail running from Washington, D.C., to San Diego under the national "Good Roads" movement. Opened as modern paved highway in 1922, complete with eliminated rail crossings, it transformed Arlington from a small town into a thriving community.
P.A. Watson Log House
Arlington, TX
Patrick Alfred Watson raised this dwelling in 1855 near present-day Arlington to house the six children left after his first wife's death; he later remarried and fathered six more. A surveyor, educator, and religious leader, Watson gave land for a community cemetery and for an early church-and-school building whose congregation endures today as West Fork United Presbyterian Church. Descendants lived in the enlarged house until 1961, and it was moved to this site in 1976.
John A. Kooken Elementary School
Arlington, TX
Arlington's North Side School opened in 1907 to serve grades one through seven, only to burn in 1909 and be rebuilt with help from Depression-era WPA funding in 1939. It was renamed for John A. Kooken, a beloved principal and long-serving superintendent who shaped Arlington's public schools from 1908 into the late 1930s. Later a preschool and then an education center, the campus became known for integrating young children with disabilities into general classrooms.