Western Heights Church of Christ
Dallas, Dallas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded 1872 after Brig. Gen. Richard M. Gano (1830 - 1913) preached at request of Maj. B. F. Robinson, a Civil War comrade, to settlers from De Soto, Eagle Ford, Jimtown, Lisbon, and Wheatland, making 50 converts. Church met for years in homes or in Mt. Airy Schoolhouse. Early preacher was Z. E. Coombes. Land was given the church by W. R. Fisher (1888) and J. A. Crawford (1890); Mrs. Mattie Hord Crawford raised money for lumber. Men of congregation erected (1890) first meetinghouse of white clapboard that now houses the church for the deaf and the Sunday School.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1872, former Confederate brigadier general Richard M. Gano preached at the request of a Civil War comrade and won some fifty converts among settlers from the scattered communities around Dallas. The new Church of Christ met for years in homes and the Mt. Airy Schoolhouse before members raised lumber and land to build a white clapboard meetinghouse in 1890. That early structure survived to serve later congregations.
Why it matters
The congregation's founding by Civil War veterans turned frontier neighbors shows how faith communities helped knit a war-scarred region back together in Reconstruction-era Texas.
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Related people
- · Richard M. Gano
- · B.F. Robinson
Themes & tags
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