Smithfield Methodist Church
North Richland Hills, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
William and Mary Turner moved from Dallas County to a 300-acre farm near here in 1856. According to local tradition William soon built split log benches at his home for his neighbors' use as a site for study and worship. By year's end they had formed a Methodist Society called the Willow Springs Class. By 1861 the Rev. S.D. Sansom was serving as local elder. The community took the name Zion about 1873 and the church changed its name to Zion Methodist Church. In 1887, after Eli Smith and J.C. Brownfield gave land for a townsite named Smithfield, the church became Smithfield Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The congregation's first sanctuary, erected on land donated by Eli and Sally Smith in 1912, was replaced in 1935 with a structure built of masonry donated by descendants of William and Mary Turner. The congregation changed its name to Smithfield Methodist Church in 1939 and achieved sufficient membership by 1945 to retain its first full-time minister. The congregation, renamed Smithfield United Methodist Church in 1968, erected a new sanctuary here in 1974. The church continues to offer worship and outreach programs to the community and remains an important institution in northeast Tarrant County.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The roots of this congregation reach back to 1856, when William Turner built split-log benches at his farm so neighbors could gather to study and worship as the 'Willow Springs Class.' Through changing community names — Zion, then Smithfield after Eli Smith donated a townsite — the Methodist church grew, dedicating sanctuaries in 1912, 1935, and 1974. Descendants of the founding Turner family helped rebuild it across the generations.
Why it matters
Smithfield's church traces how a single farmer's log benches could seed an institution that outlived the very community names around it, anchoring northeast Tarrant County for over a century.
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Related people
- · William Turner
- · Mary Turner
- · Eli Smith
Themes & tags
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