First Christian Church Building

Duane's take

The official marker's the source, and here's how I tell it. Way out in Gatesville, in Coryell County, there's a building that has outlasted just about every plan anyone ever made for it. The First Christian Church had its beginnings in the 1880s, back when Gatesville was still finding its footing.

It took a little time to make things official, but by 1892 the congregation was organized, and they got to work. They built this structure themselves, and for decades it was their place. Their voices filled it, their seasons turned inside it, their community anchored itself to it.

Then, in 1972, the congregation disbanded. Now, that's the kind of line that could close a story. But it didn't.

Other groups took up worship inside those walls for several more years, keeping the building alive as a house of worship even after its founding congregation was gone. Then, in 1990, the building was deeded to the Coryell County Museum. From congregation, to other worshippers, to a museum.

Three chapters, one building. And the building itself has something to say about all of it. Step back and take a look at those arched windows and that steeply pitched roof.

Craftsmen built this in the Greek Revival style, and they did not cut corners. The care is still visible today, which may be exactly why, after everything, the building is still standing at all. Some things are built to last longer than the plans that made them.

What the marker says

The first Christian Church of Gatesville had its beginnings in the 1880s. Officially organized in 1892, the congregation built this structure and met here until it disbanded in1972. The building continued in use as a house of worship for other groups for several years until it was deeded to the Coryell County Museum in 1990. The building exhibits well-crafted elements of the Greek Revival style in its arched windows and steeply pitched roof. RTHL 1992