Saint Mark C. M. E. Church
Longview, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
First known as St. Mark Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, this congregation was organized by former slaves about 1867. Worship services were held in a brush arbor built at the present site of Magrill Park. The Rev. Robert A. Hagler served as first pastor, and under his leadership a two-story sanctuary was built in 1876-77. It was replaced by a new frame building in 1893. In 1954 the church name was changed to St. Mark Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. this site was acquired in 1972. Descendants of founding members still attend the church.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized around 1867 by former slaves, St. Mark began worship in a brush arbor at what is now Magrill Park, with Rev. Robert A. Hagler as its first pastor. The congregation raised a two-story sanctuary in 1876-77, replaced it in 1893, and later took the name Christian Methodist Episcopal. Descendants of those founding members still fill its pews today.
Why it matters
St. Mark reflects the birth of independent Black Methodist denominations after the Civil War, as freedpeople left white-controlled churches to worship on their own terms.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Robert A. Hagler
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Red Oak Missionary Baptist Church
Longview, TX
In 1875, a decade after emancipation, freed African Americans south of Longview organized Red Oak Grove Baptist Church on land donated by Sallie Rollins, with Rev. Rube Wright as their first pastor. The congregation later moved to its present site and dropped 'grove' from its name, all the while investing in education through ties to Butler College in Tyler and student scholarships. Its mission work has shaped the surrounding community for nearly a century and a half.
Jerusalem Baptist Church
Longview, TX
After emancipation, African Americans across the South founded Baptist churches they could govern themselves, and Jerusalem Baptist grew from a Reconstruction-era brotherhood in the Longview railroad settlement once called Earpville. Founded by Black worshippers who bought land in the 1890s, the church became a pillar of stability and self-determination. During the civil rights era, its nationally known pastor Rev. S. Y. Nixson championed equal education and helped end segregation in Longview's public schools.
Judge J. N. Campbell Home
Longview, TX
Built in 1872 and held by the Campbell family from 1885, this Longview home became a byword for hospitality, keeping open house for Texas judges, clergy, and young people. Black musicians played the string-band dances held here, and the judge's brother — a future governor of Texas — was a regular guest, making the household a small crossroads of the region's social and political life.
David Sutton Meredith
Longview, TX
Born in Virginia in 1869, David Sutton Meredith settled in Longview in 1895 and was elected sheriff of Gregg County in 1916. He served through the volatile summer of 1919, when he helped keep racial violence from erupting into full-scale riot during Longview's chapter of the nationwide "Red Summer." After leaving office he remained an influential figure, helping organize two of the city's national banks.