First United Methodist Church of Terrell
Terrell, Kaufman County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Rev. J. W. Fields (1817-1886) organized this church in 1873, the same year the Texas & Pacific Railroad opened a station at the Terrell townsite. A frame church was built and the Sunday School started in 1877. In 1900, when the membership had grown to 495, a larger brick edifice replaced the first sanctuary. This fellowship helped support Wesley College, located here from 1905 to 1911, and built the City Tabernacle, site of public gatherings from 1905 to 1915. Four sessions of the North Texas Methodist Conference have been hosted by this congregation.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Rev. J. W. Fields organized this Methodist congregation in 1873, the same year the Texas & Pacific Railroad opened a station that put Terrell on the map. As the town boomed, the church grew from a frame building to a brick sanctuary by 1900 and helped sustain Wesley College and the City Tabernacle, hubs of learning and public gatherings in the early 1900s. It hosted the North Texas Methodist Conference four times.
Why it matters
The church's growth alongside the arriving railroad captures how faith, education, and the iron rails together built up the towns of post-Civil War Texas.
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Related people
- · J. W. Fields
Themes & tags
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