DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about Fannin Street United Methodist Church in Goliad County. Now settle in, because this is a story about people who refused to quit. It starts in 1872.
Not long after emancipation, many former slaves who had previously worshipped alongside their owners made a decision — they would build something of their own. One of the earliest African American churches in all of Goliad County took root right here, founded in that spirit of hard-won freedom. They called it the Methodist Episcopal Church in those early days, and they built it the way small country churches were built — steeply gabled roof, a handsome cupola with four openings letting in the light and the air, and a bell cast by the Cincinnati Bell Foundry hanging inside it.
That bell had a voice. Now, Goliad County is not always gentle country, and this congregation was about to find that out in ways that would break a lesser community. The church's first site sat out at Horseshoe Bend, and in 1886 a hurricane came through and made its presence known.
The congregation endured. They rebuilt their footing and carried on. But 1902 — that's the year the marker wants you to stop and reckon with.
On May 18, 1902, a tornado struck. Not a near miss. Not a close call.
It destroyed the church and it killed fifty parishioners. Fifty. The grief was deep enough that a marker was later erected at the Lott Cemetery in honor of those who were buried there.
You don't move past something like that easily. You don't move past it at all, really — you just choose to keep going anyway. And they did.
The church was rebuilt in 1903. Over time, later improvements brought a pastor's study, a choir room, a gallery, and a fellowship hall. The congregation grew its life in the community — baptisms in Coleto Creek, church anniversary celebrations, singing rallies that moved from church to church across the area.
The name changed too — in 1968 it became Fannin Street United Methodist Church, the name it carries today. But the trouble wasn't finished with them yet. On September 13, 1976, lightning struck the steeple and destroyed it.
What it left behind, though — and this is the detail the marker reaches for — was only the mark of a cross. The bell that had rung from that cupola couldn't be replaced up top, so the congregation mounted it out front of the church, where it stands in plain sight. You could say the building wore its history on the outside from that point on.
The baptisms in Coleto Creek and the singing rallies wound down in the 1970s, but the people of Fannin Street didn't wind down with them. They still run a booth at Goliad Market Days. They still hold worship services at the La Bahia nursing home.
Hurricane, tornado, lightning — the building has taken every hit this county could throw at it, and the congregation has answered every single time. The marker ends with a phrase this church has earned the right to say: the church is not the building. It's the people.
After a hundred and fifty years of proof, it's hard to argue with that.
What the marker says
The Fannin Street United Methodist Church began in 1872. One of the earliest African American churches in Goliad County, it was founded after emancipation when many former slaves who previously worshipped with their owners established their own churches. Originally known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, the name changed to Fannin Street United Methodist in 1968. Built in the traditional style of small country churches, Fannin Street United Methodist Church has a steeply gabled roof and a cupola with four openings. The bell was made by the Cincinnati Bell Foundry. The church experienced several disasters including a hurricane in 1886 at its first site at Horseshoe Bend, but the tornado that struck here on May 18, 1902 destroyed the church and killed fifty parishioners. A marker was erected at the Lott Cemetery in honor of those buried there. The church was rebuilt in 1903 and later improvements included a pastor's study, choir room, gallery and fellowship hall. A third disaster hit the church on Sept. 13, 1976 when lightning destroyed the steeple, leaving only the mark of a cross. The bell was unable to be replaced and was mounted in front of the church. The church has been involved in community life that included baptisms in Coleto Creek, the anniversary of the church, and the singing rally held at different community churches. Although these activities ended in the 1970s, the church continues to operate a booth at Goliad Market Days and hold worship services at the La Bahia nursing home. The church survived many setbacks but the congregation endures and exemplifies the phrase, "the church is not the building; it's the people."