Grace Methodist Church
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Methodist missionary efforts in this area date to the late 1830s. Circuit-riding ministers served Methodists in Palestine from the time of its founding as the Anderson County seat in 1848. In 1850 church members built a frame sanctuary and in November of that year the East Texas Conference was held in the new building, named Bascom Chapel in honor of an early Methodist bishop. The arrival of the railroad in 1872 resulted in a population boom for Palestine, and in 1884 a new church, named Centenary for the 100th anniversary of Methodism in the United States, was built. Three years later, the congregation divided to form the present First United Methodist Church and Grace United Methodist Church. Initially called Methvin Chapel in honor of the Rev. Alex Methvin, this congregation built Howard Avenue Methodist Church in 1898. After it burned in 1913, a new sanctuary was constructed at this site and named Grace Methodist Church. Long a supporter of local and foreign missionary efforts, Grace United Methodist Church continues to serve the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Circuit-riding Methodist preachers served Palestine from its founding as the Anderson County seat in 1848, and by 1850 members had raised a frame chapel that hosted the East Texas Conference that same year. The railroad's arrival in 1872 spurred a population boom, and in 1887 the growing congregation split, one branch becoming what is today Grace United Methodist Church. After an early sanctuary burned in 1913, the present church was built and named Grace.
Why it matters
The story of circuit riders giving way to permanent churches — then dividing as the railroad swelled the town — mirrors how faith and growth reshaped frontier communities across 19th-century America.
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Related people
- · Alex Methvin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Baptist Church of Palestine
Palestine, TX
Organized in 1851, just five years after Palestine became the Anderson County seat, this Baptist congregation first worshiped in a shared chapel before building its own sanctuary in 1853 and hosting the state convention in 1854. A dramatic 1879 revival led by Major William Penn fueled a new building funded by nickel contributions, earning it the nickname the Avenue "Nickel" Baptist Church. Fire, rebuilding, and relocation carried the fellowship into the twentieth century.
Link House, The
Palestine, TX
This Palestine home was built and continuously occupied by the family of early physician Henry Harnsbarger Link and his wife, Hypatia McGee. The first rooms, raised in 1852 when Texas was barely a state, now form the front hall of the house. One of the couple's three sons, Dr. H. R. Link, remodeled the residence in 1912, and it was named a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1972.
First Presbyterian Church
Palestine, TX
The First Presbyterian Church of Palestine was organized in 1849 with eighteen charter members by pioneering home missionaries Daniel Baker and John May Becton. Its Gothic-style sanctuary of handmade brick was raised in 1888 and expanded with two later additions. The building stands as a landmark of early Presbyterian settlement in East Texas.
Anderson County
Palestine, TX
Anderson County was created from Houston County on March 24, 1846, and organized that July with Palestine as its seat, just months after Texas joined the Union. It was named to honor Kenneth Lewis Anderson, who had served as vice-president of the Republic of Texas in its final years.