Highland Park Methodist Church
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation traces its origin to the founding of a church at Southern Methodist University in early February 1916. Known as the University Church, its first members came from the campus community of faculty and students.Methodist Bishop Edwin D. Mouzon appointed the Rev. A. Frank Smith as first pastor. The church gained added support and leadership when Methodist families living in the new suburb of Highland Park transferred their memberships. It was renamed Highland Park Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and at the end of 1916 the charter roll listed 225 members. Southern Methodist University donated land at this site to the church in 1916, and in 1917 the congregation erected a temporary structure known as the "Little Brown Church." The town of Highland Park annexed the church property in 1923, a legal formality that cleared the way for construction of a new Gothic Revival sanctuary in 1926. Due to rapid growth in membership, the church added three new buildings to its main campus between 1950 and 1961. By 1995 membership exceeded 10,500. The congregation continues its historic commitment to community service and international missions.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Highland Park Methodist Church began in February 1916 as the University Church at Southern Methodist University, its first members drawn from faculty and students, with the Rev. A. Frank Smith as first pastor. As families settled the new suburb of Highland Park, the congregation grew, built its "Little Brown Church," and in 1926 raised a grand Gothic Revival sanctuary on land SMU had donated. Rapid postwar expansion pushed membership past 10,500 by 1995.
Why it matters
Its rise mirrors the growth of a university and its affluent suburb, capturing how faith, higher education, and 20th-century suburbanization grew up together.
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Related people
- · A. Frank Smith
- · Edwin D. Mouzon
Themes & tags
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