Site of Cumberland Presbyterian Church
Huntsville, Walker County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Site of Cumberland Presbyterian Church On this site once stood the first church building erected In Huntsville. In 1849, Cumberland Presbyterian Church trustees A. C. King and T. J. Caldwell purchased this land on behalf of the congregation, and the building was constructed soon thereafter. The sanctuary also served as a house of worship for other denominations in town when it was not in use by the Cumberland Presbyterians. Symbolic of the Cumberland Presbyterian movement in Texas, the Huntsville Church was founded on the pioneering efforts of itinerant preachers in Texas such as Sumner Bacon and Andrew Jackson McGown. McGown published the denomination's newspaper, the Texas Presbyterian, in Huntsville from 1849 until it ceased publication in 1856. Church members first met in homes, in the courthouse or in other public buildings, with the Rev. Weyman Adair and the Rev. Milton Estill providing early leadership to the congregation. The Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Huntsville succumbed to the ravages of the Civil War and the 1867 yellow fever epidemic and eventually disbanded. The First Christian Church acquired the property in 1871 and moved the building across the street about 1901, after which time it fell into disrepair and eventually collapsed. Although no longer extant, the Cumberland Presbyterian Church remains a significant part of the early religious and cultural history of Huntsville. (2001)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On this ground stood the first church building in Huntsville, erected soon after trustees bought the land in 1849 for the town's Cumberland Presbyterians. The sanctuary opened its doors to other denominations as well, and it embodied a frontier faith carried across Texas by itinerant preachers such as Sumner Bacon; from here Andrew Jackson McGown published the denomination's newspaper, the Texas Presbyterian. Battered by the Civil War and the deadly 1867 yellow fever epidemic, the congregation disbanded, and the building was later moved and eventually collapsed.
Why it matters
The Cumberland Presbyterians grew out of the raw camp-meeting revivalism of the American frontier, and this vanished church marks how itinerant preaching planted organized religion across early Texas.
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Related people
- · Sumner Bacon
- · Andrew Jackson McGown
- · Rev. Weyman Adair
- · Rev. Milton Estill
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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