Site of First Church in Upton County
Rankin, Upton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
After pioneers of Upland (12 miles N.) resettled here in 1912 on Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway, they held religious services in the railroad depot, then acquired a non-denominational church site on this corner. Ira G. Yates, later an oil baron, headed building fund donors' list. George E. Blanton, a Baptist; Dr. J. H. Johnson, Church of Christ; and H. H. Russell, Methodist, were trustees. The "Rankin Union Church" building, finished in 1915, housed local school two years. It was county's only church until the late 1920s. This site was sold to the Methodists in 1939.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When pioneers abandoned nearby Upland and resettled at Rankin in 1912 along the Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway, they first worshipped in the railroad depot before building a shared church on this corner. Future oil baron Ira G. Yates led the donors, and Baptist, Church of Christ, and Methodist trustees jointly oversaw the "Rankin Union Church," finished in 1915. For a time it also housed the local school and remained the county's only church until the late 1920s.
Why it matters
The union church shows how thinly settled West Texas frontier towns pooled every denomination and civic need into a single building until railroads and oil money let the community grow apart into separate institutions.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the early twentieth century, West Texas was ranch country: vast, dry, and sparsely settled. Towns lived or died by the railroad. When a new line came through, communities that had grown up elsewhere often packed up and moved to meet it. The people of Upland, twelve miles north, did exactly that in 1912.
The Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway was one of the era's boldest railroad dreams. Its backers hoped to link Kansas City with a Pacific port in Mexico, cutting across the plains and deserts along the way. The full vision was never realized, but the line brought settlement to stretches of West Texas that had seen little before.
Within a little more than a decade, everything changed again. Oil discoveries in the Permian Basin in the 1920s transformed this lonely region. Fortunes appeared almost overnight, and towns that had been built on cattle and hope suddenly had money to grow.
People & events
When the Upland pioneers arrived at the new town of Rankin, they had no church building, so they worshipped in the railroad depot. The same station that brought freight and passengers also served as a sanctuary on Sundays, a fitting symbol of how completely the railroad shaped their lives.
The settlers soon acquired this corner lot for a non-denominational church. Ira G. Yates, later famous as an oil baron, headed the list of donors to the building fund. The trustees reflected the community's practical spirit: George E. Blanton, a Baptist; Dr. J. H. Johnson, of the Church of Christ; and H. H. Russell, a Methodist. In a town too small to support three congregations, they chose to build one together.
The Rankin Union Church was finished in 1915. For two years it also housed the local school, so it served learning and worship under one roof. It remained the only church in Upton County until the late 1920s. In 1939 the site was sold to the Methodists.
Its place in the American story
Union churches like this one were common on the American frontier. Where settlers were few and money was scarce, different denominations shared a building and often took turns leading services. Rankin's church shows that cooperation in action: Baptists, Methodists, and Church of Christ members working side by side.
Ira G. Yates's name on the donor list adds another layer. He became one of the best-known figures of the West Texas oil boom, and the Yates oil field bears his name. Seeing him here, supporting a small-town church before his fortune arrived, captures a moment just before oil remade the region.
The church's later history follows a national pattern. As towns grew, shared institutions divided into separate congregations and school buildings. The 1939 sale to the Methodists marks the end of the pioneer era of making do together.
If you visit
Rankin sits in wide-open West Texas country, where the horizon feels endless and the sky dominates the view. Standing on this corner, try to imagine the town in 1912: a new rail stop, a handful of buildings, and settlers gathering for worship in the depot.
Look around at the town's layout and think about how the railroad determined where everything went. In places like this, the tracks were the reason the town existed at all.
Rankin makes a good stop on a road trip through the Permian Basin, where you can see both the ranching roots and the oil-field landscape that followed. Bring water, fill your tank when you can, and give yourself time to take in the scale of the land.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Ira G. Yates
Themes & tags
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