First Methodist Church of Mesquite

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Methodist Church of Mesquite. Now settle in, because this one goes back a good while. Way back to 1857, before the town of Mesquite was even a town, before there was a mayor, before there was a downtown, before there was much of anything official at all, a handful of area residents started gathering for Methodist worship services.

Led by a circuit riding preacher named W. K. Masten, they'd meet in a building that folks couldn't quite agree on a name for.

Some called it the Frost Schoolhouse. Some called it the Bennett Schoolhouse. Either way, it was what they had, and they made it work.

By 1863, that loose gathering had pulled itself together into something real: the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, organized formally and meeting right on in that same schoolhouse. They kept at it there for nearly two more decades. Then, in 1880, a couple of charter members named John L. and Lucy Futrell did something that changed the whole trajectory of the congregation.

They deeded their land, this very land, to the church, so a proper building could finally go up. And up it went: a small wood-frame structure, modest but theirs. Now, a storm had other ideas at some point, and that little building took some damage.

But the congregation rebuilt it in 1900, and that tells you something right there about the kind of people we're talking about. Back in 1887, when Mesquite was finally incorporated as a town, charter member J. E.

Russell stepped into the role of the town's very first mayor. And the downtown area began to develop right there near the church site, the congregation and the community growing up alongside each other the way it tends to happen in a place where people are determined to put down roots. As the population of Mesquite climbed, so did the size of the congregation, and after 1916 they kept building; several progressively larger sanctuaries, each one a testament to how far they'd come from that borrowed schoolhouse.

Denominational mergers brought a couple of name changes along the way. In 1939, the congregation became the First Methodist Church of Mesquite. Then in 1968, it became the First United Methodist Church of Mesquite.

Different names, same long line stretching all the way back to a circuit rider named Masten and a schoolhouse that couldn't even decide what it was called. Sometimes the most lasting things start with the least fanfare.

What the marker says

In 1857, prior to the incorporation of the town of Mesquite, a group of area residents began gathering occasionally for Methodist worship services led by circuit riding preacher W. K. Masten. Services were held in a nearby building known variously as the Frost Schoolhouse or the Bennett Schoolhouse. By 1863, the group had organized formally as the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Services continued in the schoolhouse until 1880, when charter members John L. and Lucy Futrell deeded this land to the congregation for the construction of a church building. Soon a small wood-frame structure was erected. Later damaged by a storm, it was rebuilt in 1900. In 1887 when the town of Mesquite was incorporated, charter member J. E. Russell became the town's first mayor, and the downtown area began to develop near the church site. As the population of Mesquite increased, so did the congregation, and several progressively larger sanctuaries were built after 1916 to accommodate its growth. Because of denominational mergers, the congregation changed its name to the First Methodist Church of Mesquite in 1939, and to the First United Methodist Church of Mesquite in 1968.