First Presbyterian Church of Longview

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Nine people. That's where this story begins.

Nine resident members of the Old School Southern Presbyterian Church, looking out at the brand-new town of Longview in 1872, and deciding that this place needed a church. Not a congregation somewhere else, not a borrowed building down the road. A mission, right here, in a town that was still finding its footing.

Nine people with that kind of conviction are not to be underestimated. The first church building went up in 1874, on land donated by the Texas and Pacific Railroad. So the railroad gave them the ground, and the congregation built something meant to last.

The Reverend James H. Wiggins was installed as the first full-time pastor, and the work got serious. By 1894, that congregation had helped establish not one but two mission churches in the area.

Think about that. A church born as a mission, turning around and planting missions of its own. Then came 1900, and a new church building.

Then 1940, and a third one, right at this site. Each building a kind of answer to the one before it, a congregation outgrowing its walls because the work kept growing too. And it hasn't stopped.

The First Presbyterian Church of Longview continues to sponsor outreach and missionary programs, in Longview and in other parts of the world. Nine people looked at a new town and decided to show up. Turns out, that's how you build something that outlasts every building you ever put your name on.

What the marker says

This church was established by nine resident members of the Old School Southern Presbyterian Church as a mission in the new town of Longview in 1872. The first church building was erected on land donated by the Texas and Pacific Railroad in 1874. The Rev. James H. Wiggins was installed as the first full-time pastor. The congregation helped establish two mission churches in the area by 1894. A new church building was constructed in 1900 and a third at this site in 1940. The congregation continues to sponsor outreach and missionary programs in Longview and in other parts of the world.