Manchaca United Methodist Church
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Methodists in the Manchaca community began meetings as early as 1871 when circuit riders held worship services in the old rock church owned by the Cumberland Presbyterian congregation. Although this fellowship was not organized formally until 1874, the Rev. Sam A. Whipple was recorded as the pastor of an 80-member congregation in 1873. Church members later worshiped at this site in a wood frame building until current sanctuary was built in 1956-57. For more than 100 years, Manchaca United Methodist Church has provided significant service and leadership to this community. (1984)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Methodism reached the Manchaca community south of Austin by 1871, when circuit-riding preachers held services in a shared rock church. A congregation of some eighty members had a settled pastor by 1873, formally organized in 1874, and worshiped in a wood-frame building before raising its present sanctuary in 1956–57. For more than a century it has anchored community life in this corner of Travis County.
Why it matters
Circuit riders and small frontier congregations knit scattered Texas settlements into communities, and this church traces that long thread of local faith and fellowship.
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Related people
- · Sam A. Whipple
Themes & tags
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