First United Methodist Church of Bartlett
Bartlett, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized between 1870 and 1875 as the Indian Creek Church, this congregation moved to Bartlett about 1885. Services were held in a store, schoolhouse, and Baptist church before construction of a Methodist church in 1890. Built in 1896, the present sanctuary was enlarged in 1912 and dedicated on June 19, 1921, after a donation by Mrs. S. T. Morrison helped pay the debt. Dedication speaker was the Rev. H. A. Boaz, an early pastor here who later became a bishop and president of Southern Methodist University. The fellowship grew from 13 members to a peak of 310 in the late 1950s.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded as the Indian Creek Church sometime between 1870 and 1875, this Methodist congregation moved into Bartlett about 1885 and worshipped in a store, schoolhouse, and borrowed Baptist church before building its own homes. The present sanctuary, begun in 1896 and enlarged in 1912, was dedicated in 1921 after a gift from Mrs. S. T. Morrison retired its debt; the dedication was led by former pastor H. A. Boaz, later a bishop and president of Southern Methodist University. Membership grew from thirteen to a peak of 310 in the late 1950s.
Why it matters
The congregation's slow climb from a country meeting to a settled town church mirrors how frontier faith communities matured alongside the railroad towns they helped build.
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Related people
- · H. A. Boaz
- · Mrs. S. T. Morrison
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Presbyterian Church of Bartlett
Bartlett, TX
This congregation began in 1875 as the Nazareth Church, gathered on Indian Creek in the years when central Texas was still a thinly settled frontier. Reorganized in Bartlett in 1897, its members raised this Victorian sanctuary in 1899. The building's ornamented lines reflect the growing confidence of a farming town that had put its pioneer decades behind it.
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