First Methodist Church (First United Methodist Church; Methodist Episcopal Church of South Marshall) is a historic

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

at 300 E. Houston Street in

Marshall, Texas Marshall is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat of Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County and a cultural and educational center of the Ark-La-Tex region. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the population of M ...

. It has also been known as First United Methodist Church and as Methodist Episcopal Church of South Marshall. It is a stuccoed brick

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

-style church with a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

having four monumental square columns; such architecture is rare in Texas. It was documented in 1936 by the

Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...

. The portico was originally topped by a belfry but that was replaced in 1949 by a large octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

. It was built during 1860 to 1861, probably by slave labor. Its builders included mason Alexander Pope and carpenter Billingon Smalley. It was expanded in 1949 and in 1958. During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Confederate supplies were stored in the basement and it was the site of organization for the war effort. It was the site of the first conference, in 1862, of the Trans-Mississippi states convened by Confederate President

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a ...

. Texas Governor

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northwe ...

, Missouri Governor

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, and representatives of Arkansas and Louisiana participated. (accessible by searching withi
National Archives Catalog
) It was added to the National Register in 1980.

References

External links

First United Methodist Church-Marshall
from the Center for Regional Heritage Research, Stephen F. Austin State University United Methodist churches in Texas Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Churches completed in 1860 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States Buildings and structures in Harrison County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Harrison County, Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks {{Texas-church-stub

See also

References

External links