First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde

Duane's take

Now, I'm gonna tell this the way the official marker tells it, so let's let the record speak. The Western Texas Presbytery assigned the Rev. James R.

Bridges to the Uvalde field in 1881, and right away, you have to appreciate what that assignment meant. Bridges was responsible for Bandera, Brackettville, Del Rio, Montell, and the Nueces and Frio Canyon areas. That is not a Sunday stroll.

He found Uvalde and especially its surrounding territory wild and often dangerous. A lesser man might have kept his head down and counted the days. But Bridges had a talent for finding the people who were ready.

He soon met Presbyterian families who were anxious, genuinely anxious, to organize a new church. Among them were William and Mattie Jones, new arrivals themselves, with six children in tow, who helped that young minister gather charter members and get things moving. In February of 1882, the Rev.

Mr. Bridges and eleven charter members met in Uvalde and organized the Uvalde Presbyterian Church. Eleven people.

That is where it all started. While funds were raised for a meeting house of their own, the Presbyterians met in the Methodist church building. Neighbors helping neighbors, as it goes.

The new building was dedicated in 1883, the same year that Bridges was called to serve in Baltimore. He built something, handed it off, and moved on. That building, though, had its own fate waiting.

A windstorm destroyed it early in the twentieth century, and a new facility was built in 1907. Then in 1909, the Rev. Thomas Alexander Hardin of Tennessee became minister of the Uvalde church.

The marker says his arrival ended years of uncertainty and began an era of stability. That is a sentence worth sitting with. Years of uncertainty, ended.

The 1907 church building was moved to this very site in 1914. A ladies' group, later called the Women's Auxiliary, was in operation by 1921. The congregation kept building itself up, kept organizing.

Ill health compelled the Rev. Mr. Hardin to retire in 1933, but the church kept him close, naming him pastor emeritus, a title he held until his death in 1946.

Even through the difficulties of World War II, the church grew in numbers. A men's group began in 1947. In the nineteen-fifties and early nineteen-sixties, a new church complex was completed.

And from that time forward, the First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde has remained active in community service and worship, growing steadily. Eleven charter members in 1882 to a full complex decades later. Some things, once rooted, just keep reaching.

What the marker says

The Western Texas Presbytery assigned the Rev. James R. Bridges to the Uvalde field in 1881. Serving Bandera, Brackettville, Del Rio, Montell and the Nueces and Frio Canyon areas, Bridges found Uvalde and especially its surrounding areas wild and often dangerous. However, he soon met Presbyterian families who were anxious to organize a new church. William and Mattie Jones and their six children, also new arrivals to the area, helped the young minister gather charter members and organize the church. In February 1882, the Rev. Mr. Bridges and eleven charter members met in Uvalde and organized the Uvalde Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterians met in the Methodist church building while funds were raised for a meeting house of their own. The new building was dedicated in 1883, the same year that Bridges was called to serve in Baltimore. A windstorm destroyed the church building early in the 20th century, and a new facility was built in 1907. In 1909, the Rev. Thomas Alexander Hardin of Tennessee became minister of the Uvalde church. His arrival ended years of uncertainty for the church and began an era of stability. The 1907 church building was moved to this site in 1914. A ladies' group, later called the Women's Auxiliary, was in operation by 1921. Ill health compelled the Rev. Mr. Hardin to retire in 1933; he was pastor emeritus until his death in 1946. The church grew in numbers despite the difficulties of World War II. A men's group began in 1947. In the 1950s and early 1960s a new church complex was completed. The church has remained active in community service and worship, growing steadily since that time. (1999)