First United Methodist Church is a historic church at 701 E Goliad Ave in

Crockett, Texas Crockett is a city and the county seat of Houston County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 6,332. Houston County is the oldest county and Crockett the fifth-oldest city in Texas. History The town was name ...

. First United Methodist Church in Crockett, Texas was organized on December 23, 1839, by the Texas Mission of the Mississippi Methodist Conference b
Littleton Fowler
It is one of the oldest continuously operating Methodist congregation in Texas. The land where the church is located was purchased by the Methodist congregation in 1858. The church building was placed on th
National Register of Historic Places on March 21, 2011.
The cornerstone of the current church building was laid in 1901. Several families in the church gave memorial gifts of stained-glass windows. The windows were most likely crafted in Bavaria, shipped to Galveston and then transported to Crockett via rail. They were then installed by artisans who were likely experienced in the technique of installing stained glass in 1902.There are a total of nineteen stained-glass windows in the church, with one of the most notable being a gift from two brothers who had lost their mother, wives, and children in the

Galveston hurricane of 1900 The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was a deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane which became the List of di ...

. The interior of the church sanctuary is in the Akron style, meaning it has curved rows and no center aisle. The bell in the church tower was salvaged from the wooden church building which burned in 1870. The bell, a 22-inch

Meneely The Meneely Bell Foundry was a Bell (instrument), bell foundry established in 1826 in West Troy (now Watervliet, New York, Watervliet), New York (state), New York, by Andrew Meneely. Two of Andrew's sons continued to operate the foundry after his ...

cast bronze, came from Troy, New York in 1859 and is still rung each Sunday. In 1915, a pipe organ was specifically built for the church by

Estey Organ The Estey Organ Company was an Organ (music), organ manufacturer based in Brattleboro, Vermont, founded in 1852 by #Jacob Estey, Jacob Estey. At its peak, the company was one of the world's largest organ manufacturers, employed about 700 people, a ...

Company in Brattleboro, Vermont. It has undergone several renovations, including the installation of a computer board to open the pipes, and is used in worship services. Additions to the church building were made in 1922 to provide offices and classrooms and in 1953 to add a fellowship hall and additional classrooms. In 1968 additional classrooms were built, and in 1998 a Family Life Center with a gym and meeting rooms was added.A History of First United Methodist Church 1839-1989 compiled by Virginia Jones and Easy Maness Denominations In 1839, this church was part of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself nationally. In 1939, th ...

of America. When the

Methodist Episcopal Church South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

was formed in 1845, the congregation in Crockett joined with it. In 1939, the Methodist church reunited several denominations, and the church in Crockett became a part of The Methodist Church. In 1968, The Methodist Church merged with the

Evangelical United Brethren Church The Evangelical United Brethren Church (EUB) was a North American Protestant denomination from 1946 to 1968 with Arminian theology, roots in the Mennonite and German Reformed communities, and close ties to Methodism. It was formed by the merg ...

to form the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant Christian denomination, denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was ...

. In 2022, the Crockett congregation voted to remain a part of the United Methodist Church.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas United Methodist churches in Texas Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas 20th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Houston County, Texas Crockett, Texas Gothic Revival architecture in Texas 1901 establishments in Texas Churches completed in 1901

See also

References