The Methodist Home
Waco, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, appointed the Rev. Joseph S. Key as Bishop for the Northwest Texas Conference of the denomination in 1890. Bishop Key, who had previously worked with methodist orphanages in Georgia, saw an immediate need for a similar institution in Texas. With the help of the Rev. Dr. Horace Bishop, Pastor of Waco's Fifth Street Methodist Church (now First United Methodist), Key secured the 27-acre Emily W. Martin estate and large Miller Family residence at this site for an orphanage. The Rev. W.H. Vaughn served as the Methodist Home's first administrator. The first orphan was welcomed in April 1894, and by the end of that year the home was caring for twenty-six children. As the number of programs and residents increased, the campus was enlarged and additional buildings were erected. By the 1920s the home instituted vocational and college training programs. In the later 1930s cottages replaced dormitory housing and a chapel was built at the highest point on the campus. An associated boys' ranch opened east of the main campus in 1971 and in recent years programs have expanded to include community counseling and foster care.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1890 Bishop Joseph S. Key, newly appointed to the Northwest Texas Conference and experienced with Methodist orphanages in Georgia, saw an urgent need for such an institution in Texas. With the help of the Rev. Dr. Horace Bishop, he secured a 27-acre estate and residence in Waco, and the Methodist Home welcomed its first orphan in April 1894, caring for twenty-six children by year's end. The campus grew steadily, adding vocational and college training by the 1920s, cottage housing and a chapel in the 1930s, a boys' ranch in 1971, and later counseling and foster-care programs.
Why it matters
The Home traces the evolution of American child welfare, from the era of the orphanage to modern foster care and family services, all rooted in one enduring institution.
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Related people
- · Joseph S. Key
- · Horace Bishop
- · W.H. Vaughn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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