DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the First Presbyterian Church of Cisco, out there in Eastland County. Now settle in, because this one starts before the town even had its boots laced up. May of 1881 — Cisco is barely a dot on a planner's paper — and already somebody is thinking ahead.
When the town was platted that very month, a corner lot at Eighth Street and Avenue G was set aside. Reserved. Spoken for.
Before the streets were graded, before the storefronts went up, that land was earmarked for a Presbyterian congregation. That's the kind of foresight that builds a town worth talkin' about. Then, just three months later, in August of 1881, four local residents made it official.
Lillie Hightower, Mrs. F.F. Lattimer, Mrs.
J.A. Lee, and M.H. Lee organized the fellowship.
Four people, a corner lot, and a conviction that this little town was going somewhere. And it was — though not without some trouble along the way. The congregation raised up their first sanctuary, and then 1893 arrived with an opinion about it.
A tornado took that earliest building clean out. That's the kind of setback that separates the faithful from the faint-hearted. So they built again.
A second building served the congregation while they kept their eyes on something bigger, something permanent. And in 1924, facilities at that very same corner — Eighth and Avenue G, the spot that had been waiting since the town was platted — were finally completed. All those years, same corner.
The land had been patient. The First Presbyterian Church of Cisco went on to play what the marker calls a significant role in the growth of the city — active in local social services, reaching outward through international benevolences. From four founders in a brand-new town to a cornerstone of Cisco's community life.
That corner lot knew what it was doing from the start.
What the marker says
When the town of Cisco was platted in May 1881, land at the corner of Eighth Street and Avenue G was set aside for use by a Presbyterian congregation. In August of that same year, local residents Lillie Hightower, Mrs. F.F. Lattimer, Mrs. J.A. Lee, and M.H. Lee organized this fellowship. An 1893 tornado destroyed the earliest sanctuary and a second building served until facilities at this site were completed in 1924. Active in local social services and international benevolences, the First Presbyterian Church of Cisco has played a significant role in the growth of the city. (1981)