First United Methodist Church
Weslaco, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
IN FEB. 1921, WITH HELP FROM REV. O. C. CROW, METHODISTS IN AND AROUND WESLACO BEGAN ORGANIZING INTO A SEPARATE CONGREGATION. ON OCT. 16, 1921, 35 METHODISTS MET TO ORGANIZE THEIR NEW CHURCH AND IN NOVEMBER COMPLETED A WOODEN CHURCH BUILDING. IN 1925, A NEW RED BRICK CHURCH WAS BUILT, AND IN 1955, WORK BEGAN ACROSS THE STREET TO REPLACE THIS CHURCH WITH THE PRESENT DAY SANCTUARY. THE CHURCH WAS INSTRUMENTAL IN CREATING KNAPP MEMORIAL METHODIST HOSPITAL AND WESLEY MANOR, TODAY JOHN KNOX VILLAGE, A RETIREMENT HOME. THEIR OUTREACH WORK, INCLUDING AN ACTIVE SUNDAY SCHOOL, WOMEN’S GROUP, MUSIC PROGRAMS, AND FINANCIAL AID TO LA SANTISIMA TRINIDAD AND LA MESA CHURCHES, HAS HELPED BUILD A STRONGER COMMUNITY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In early 1921 Methodists around the new Valley town of Weslaco organized their own congregation, and by that November had raised a wooden church, replacing it with a red brick building in 1925 and the present sanctuary in the 1950s. Beyond worship, the congregation helped found Knapp Memorial Methodist Hospital and the retirement community now known as John Knox Village. Its outreach and aid to neighboring Spanish-language congregations knit the young community together.
Why it matters
The church shows how frontier-era congregations built lasting civic institutions—hospitals and homes for the aging—as Valley farm towns matured.
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Related people
- · O. C. Crow
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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