Site of First Church in City of Friona
Friona, Parmer County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The city of Friona was founded in 1906 by George G. Wright Land Co., of Kansas City, an agency employed by the XIT Ranch owners to sell their range lands in small tracts. Religious-minded settlers in 1908 organized the Union Congregational Church. Charter members included Mr. & Mrs. C. L. Fergus, Charles Karr, Mr. & Mrs. J. W. Karr, Walter Kell, William McCandlish, Mr. & Mrs. D. W. McMillen, Mr. & Mrs. Ross V. McWilliams, Mr. & Mrs. C. B. Oleson, Mr. & Mrs. John Orbaugh, Mr. & Mrs. Seth Roush, Bert Shattuck, Mrs. Nellie Shattuck, and A. N. Wentworth. George G. Wright donated six lots at this site and the Congregational Church Building Society of New York made a $770.00 construction grant. Friona's first church building, a frame structure with hand-painted, arched windows and a belfry, was completed and dedicated on May 23, 1909. The basement added in 1916 served as center for social activities. After that meetinghouse burned in 1921, this adobe chapel was built. It was used until the congregationalists in 1969 erected a sanctuary on a new site. In 1973, this building was given to the Girl Scouts to be used for their meeting hall and activities and for a "Pioneer Heritage Chapel & Museum". (1975)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Friona was founded in 1906 when a Kansas City land company, hired to sell off the vast XIT Ranch range in small tracts, laid out the town. Religious-minded settlers organized the Union Congregational Church in 1908, and with donated lots and a $770 grant they dedicated Friona's first church building — a frame structure with hand-painted arched windows and a belfry — in 1909. After that meetinghouse burned in 1921, this adobe chapel replaced it, serving the congregation until 1969 and later becoming a Girl Scout hall and pioneer heritage chapel.
Why it matters
The site marks the birth of a Panhandle town carved from the legendary XIT Ranch, where the church settlers built became the social and spiritual heart of a brand-new farming community.
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Related people
- · George G. Wright
Related events
- · Founding of Friona (1906)
- · Breakup of the XIT Ranch
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Friona
Friona, TX
Friona was founded in 1898 by the vast XIT Ranch as a shipping point on the new Pecos & Northern railroad, first called Frio after a nearby draw. A land company soon launched a colonization drive, luring Midwestern settlers with promises of fertile soil and a healthful climate, and building a hotel, bank, and livery. Renamed Friona when its post office opened in 1907, the town lost a bitter county-seat fight to Farwell but grew into a regional farming center that dubbed itself the "Grain Sorghum Capital of the World."
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