Smithfield Church of Christ
North Richland Hills, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Smithfield Church of Christ This congregation can trace its history to October 25, 1888, when J. E. and Mary E. Turner deeded two lots of land in the new railroad town of Smithfield to Christian Church trustees Uriah French, Lewis Jones and Thomas Garrett. A one-room building was constructed on the property for worship services. Known as the Smithfield Church of Christ after a doctrinal split in the early 1900s, the congregation purchased property on this site in 1956, across the street from its original location, and completed a new building in 1960. Programs of study, worship and outreach continue to keep the Smithfield Church of Christ a significant part of the community's heritage. (2002)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation traces its roots to 1888, when a local couple deeded two lots in the new railroad town of Smithfield to Christian Church trustees, who raised a one-room house of worship. After an early-1900s doctrinal split, it became the Smithfield Church of Christ. In 1956 the congregation bought land across the street and dedicated a new building in 1960.
Why it matters
The church reflects how railroad towns took shape across late-19th-century Texas, with congregations forming at the heart of new trackside communities.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
In the late 1800s, railroads remade the map of North Texas. Wherever new tracks crossed the blackland and cross timbers country of Tarrant County, towns appeared almost overnight. Settlers wanted to be near the depot, where crops could be shipped out and goods brought in. Smithfield was one of these new railroad towns, northeast of the fast-growing city of Fort Worth.
A new town needed more than a depot and a store. Families wanted a school, a cemetery and, most of all, a church. In the rural South and West, the church was often the center of social life as well as worship. It was where neighbors met, couples married and the community gathered in hard times.
This was also a lively time for American religion. Movements that had spread across the frontier earlier in the century were still growing, and congregations were organizing in nearly every new settlement. Church buildings were often among the first lasting structures in a young town.
People & events
The congregation's story starts with a gift. On October 25, 1888, J. E. and Mary E. Turner deeded two lots in the new town of Smithfield to three Christian Church trustees: Uriah French, Lewis Jones and Thomas Garrett. Land was valuable in a new railroad town, and giving it away for a church showed real commitment to the community's future.
On those lots, members built a simple one-room house of worship. Buildings like this were the standard on the Texas frontier. They were plain, practical and often built by the members themselves, and they served for preaching, singing, Sunday school and community gatherings.
In the early 1900s, the congregation went through a doctrinal split, and afterward it became known as the Smithfield Church of Christ. Decades later, in 1956, the members bought property across the street from their original site. They finished a new building there in 1960, staying within sight of where their predecessors first met in 1888.
Its place in the American story
The split that gave this congregation its name was part of a national story. The Christian Church and the Churches of Christ both came from the Restoration Movement, a uniquely American religious movement of the early 1800s. It sought to return to the simple practices of the early Christian church. By the turn of the 20th century, disagreements over issues such as instrumental music in worship and organized missionary societies had divided the movement. The federal religious census of 1906 recognized the Churches of Christ as a separate body.
That division played out in many towns across the South and Southwest, and Smithfield is one local example. Debates that filled religious journals and national conventions decided, in hundreds of small communities, which building a family attended and what the sign out front said.
The church also shows how the railroad shaped American life. The tracks created towns like Smithfield, and congregations like this one helped those towns last. Today Smithfield's old core sits within a modern suburb in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and churches like this one are among the clearest links to its railroad-town beginnings.
If you visit
Today the old Smithfield area sits within North Richland Hills, surrounded by suburban growth. Part of the fun of visiting is spotting what is left of the old railroad town: the street layout, older buildings and the church sites themselves.
Note that, according to the marker, the 1960 building stands across the street from the original 1888 location. Standing here, you can picture the congregation's whole history within a few steps. Look across the way and imagine a modest one-room frame church on those first two lots.
This is an active congregation, so be respectful of services and church activities. The stop pairs well with a broader exploration of Tarrant County's history, from the rail-born small towns to Fort Worth's historic districts a short drive away.
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
- · J. E. Turner
- · Mary E. Turner
Themes & tags
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