United Methodist Church of Lott
Lott, Falls County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church was organized in January 1890, the same year Lott was incorporated as a town. The first meetings were held in the Masonic lodge building under the direction of the Rev. R. V. Hocutt. Trustees of the church purchased land at this location in 1892 from the Texas Town Site Company. The first sanctuary here was destroyed by a storm before it was completed, and was replaced by the original section of the present building in 1895. Known earlier as Lott Methodist Church, South, and Grace Methodist, the congregation was renamed.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation was organized in January 1890, the same year the town of Lott was incorporated, first gathering in the local Masonic lodge. After buying land in 1892, the members saw their first sanctuary destroyed by a storm before completion, then built the enduring core of the present building in 1895. Known over the years as Lott Methodist Church, South and Grace Methodist, it grew with the young Falls County town.
Why it matters
A church founded in the very year its town was born shows how faith communities and new settlements rose together across the late-nineteenth-century Texas frontier.
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Related people
- ยท R. V. Hocutt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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