St. Luke's Church
Denison, Grayson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Denison's oldest house of worship and oldest Episcopal sanctuary in Grayson County. Site given by Denison Town Company and visitation by the Ret. Rev. Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, in May 1873. Cornerstone was laid in 1875 by the Rt. Rev. A. C. Garrett, bishop of Missionary District of Northern Texas. Church was consecrated by him in 1876. The original building forms nave of the present church. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1969 Incise in base: Commemorative for 95th Anniversary, Oct. 18, 1968
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Denison's oldest house of worship and the oldest Episcopal sanctuary in Grayson County, St. Luke's grew from a site given by the Denison Town Company and a visit from Alexander Gregg, the first bishop of Texas, in May 1873. The cornerstone was laid in 1875 by Bishop A.C. Garrett of the Missionary District of Northern Texas, who consecrated the church in 1876. That original building still forms the nave of the present church.
Why it matters
Founded as the young railroad town of Denison took shape, St. Luke's marks how organized congregations followed the rails to bring settled institutions to the North Texas frontier.
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Related people
- · Alexander Gregg
- · A.C. Garrett
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Presbyterian Church
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When the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions sent Reverend Josiah Milligan to the young railroad town of Denison, he began holding services in his own living room, organizing this congregation in December 1872 with a handful of charter members. From a borrowed town hall the church moved to donated land and a frame sanctuary, weathering a fire, rebuildings, and a new mid-century sanctuary. Its members long served the town — the church women famously met wartime troop trains at the Katy depot with sandwiches and coffee.
Lone Star Masonic Lodge No. 403, A. F. & A. M.
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Chartered on June 6, 1874, just a year after Denison itself was founded, Lone Star Masonic Lodge grew alongside the young railroad town. Its members met in several locations before raising this brick hall, built in two stages in 1900 and 1915 and topped by a distinctive bracketed eave. The completed hall was dedicated on New Year's Eve 1915, with ceremonies carrying into the first day of 1916.
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Joseph G. McCoy, Promoter of Chisholm Trail
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