HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Youngblood Memorial Presbyterian Church

Robinson, McLennan County, Texas

Marker Inscription

(Robinsonville Presbyterian Church) Established in 1874, this was the second church in Robinsonville (later Robinson). The Rev. Samuel King and 21 other former members of the First Presbyterian Church of Waco organized the Robinsonville Presbyterian Church on December 4. The Rev. Mr. King served until August 1876. Twenty-five members joined in five days that year. By late 1877, the congregation had 71 members. They met in the local schoolhouse until a building was erected in 1878. Membership declined in the 20th century; by 1942, the membership was again twenty-one. The Sunday School reorganized in 1946. Two community benefactors gave the funding for a new building in 1956 in honor of their mothers, Maude (Edwards) Britain and Emma (Mote) Youngblood. It was renamed Youngblood Memorial that year. The congregation continues in the traditions of its founders. (1999)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In December 1874 the Rev. Samuel King led twenty-one former members of Waco's First Presbyterian Church to organize the second congregation in the community of Robinsonville, later Robinson. The church grew quickly at first, meeting in the local schoolhouse until it built its own home in 1878, then declined in the 20th century to just twenty-one members by 1942. Revived after World War II, it received a new building in 1956 funded by two benefactors honoring their mothers, and was renamed Youngblood Memorial in their memory.

Why it matters

Its story of founding, decline, and renewal captures the long life cycle of small rural congregations that anchored community identity across generations of Central Texas.

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Related people

  • · Samuel King

Themes & tags

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