Immanuel Lutheran Church
Taylor, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
German immigrants began settling in the new railroad town of Taylor in the 1880s. Lutheran worship services were held as early as 1885, and the Rev. I. J. Glatzle and fourteen families formally organized this congregation in 1888. The Rev. Gus Szillat became the church's first resident pastor when a parsonage was built in 1892. A frame church building completed in 1894 was destroyed in a 1916 fire, but the congregation soon rebuilt. Worship services were conducted in the German language until the 1940s. The church remains a reflection of the town's ethnic heritage.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
As German immigrants poured into the new railroad town of Taylor in the 1880s, they brought their Lutheran faith with them, holding services by 1885 and formally organizing this congregation in 1888. A resident pastor arrived with a parsonage in 1892, and though fire destroyed the first church in 1916, the members quickly rebuilt. German remained the language of worship into the 1940s.
Why it matters
The church is a living record of the German immigrant communities that shaped the culture of central Texas railroad towns.
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Themes & tags
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