St. Luke's United Methodist Church
Kilgore, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Kilgore Methodist Society was organized in 1873 after many residents of New Danville (4 mi. NE) moved to Kilgore, founded in 1872 after the railroad arrived in 1871. They erected a school building in 1873 at Martin and North streets (1 blk. N) for the Rev. Isaac Alexander (1832-1919), who transferred his New Danville Masonic Female Academy to Kilgore, renaming it Alexander Institute. He also conducted Sunday services there until 1883. In that year the neighboring Methodist congregations of Kilgore, Crossroads, Danville, and Pirtle formed the Kilgore Methodist Circuit, with the Rev. F. J. Browning as first pastor. In 1894 the Institute (later renamed Lon Morris College) moved to Jacksonville. Kilgore Methodists continued to meet in the Institute chapel. In 1904 the chapel was moved one block southwest (across Martin Street from this site). It was replaced there in 1915 with a frame sanctuary which was burned by arson in 1931 during the Kilgore oil boom. This fieldstone sanctuary and the annex were built in 1932, and the 109-member Kilgore congregation became St. Luke's Methodist Episcopal Church, South, with the Rev. Bob L. Pool as the first full-time pastor. The Tudor Gothic buildings were designed by Paris, Texas architects Smith & Praeger. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The Kilgore Methodist Society formed in 1873 as families moved to the new railroad town, and its early life was bound up with the Rev. Isaac Alexander, who moved his female academy here and renamed it Alexander Institute — the forerunner of Lon Morris College. After a frame sanctuary was lost to arson during the wild Kilgore oil boom of 1931, the congregation raised the Tudor Gothic fieldstone church that stands today in 1932.
Why it matters
The church's story weaves together frontier education, Methodist circuit-riding, and the lawless energy of the East Texas oil boom that reshaped Kilgore overnight.
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Related people
- · Rev. Isaac Alexander
- · Rev. F. J. Browning
Related events
- · Kilgore oil boom
Themes & tags
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