The G. W. Riley House
Georgetown, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Built 1872 by the Rev. S. J. Lane, chaplain, Southwestern University; founder, First Methodist church, Georgetown. Bought 1903 by the Rev. George W. Riley (1853-1925), a grandson of Llano County Indians' 1859 victim, the Rev. Jonas Dancer. G. W. Riley founded or served Methodist churches in Abilene, Beaumont, Douglassville, Mineral Wells, Tyler, and other towns for 48 years. He and wife, Beulah G. (Matthews) moved here to educate children; house remains in family. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1972
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Georgetown residence dates to 1872, built by a Southwestern University chaplain who helped found the town's First Methodist church. In 1903 it passed to the Rev. George W. Riley, a circuit-riding Methodist minister who planted or served congregations in a string of Texas towns across nearly half a century. Riley and his wife settled here in part to educate their children, and the house has stayed in the family ever since.
Why it matters
It preserves the story of the frontier Methodist ministry that stitched together scattered Texas communities in the decades after the Civil War, when a traveling preacher was often a town's first institution.
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Related people
- · George W. Riley
- · S. J. Lane
- · Beulah Matthews Riley
Themes & tags
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