First United Methodist Church of Anson

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Way out in Jones County, in the town of Anson, there stands a church with a story that reaches back to the very edges of settled Texas. The year was 1882, and a man named Reverend J.

C. Strickland was ridin' the circuit, one of those pioneer Methodist circuit riders who covered more ground on horseback than most folks cover in a lifetime. It was Strickland who organized this congregation, right there in the young town of Anson, and whatever he planted that year, it took root deep.

Now, a congregation needs more than faith to keep the rain off, and the building that would truly mark this church's place in the community came later. By 1908, during the pastorate of Reverend W. H.

Terry, the church was ready to build something that would last. They turned to a local man, a builder named Thomas Veitch, and what Veitch gave them was no plain box of a building. He raised up a Romanesque Revival structure, the kind of architecture that says we are here, and we intend to stay.

The years brought their own negotiations with the Texas sky, though. That original bell tower, proud as it stood, was eventually lowered, a concession to the possibility of wind damage. Texas wind has a way of making even the most confident structures reconsider their ambitions.

And the sanctuary itself grew over time, later additions reflecting not just construction but the growth of a congregation that became a genuine leader in Anson's development for over a century. From a circuit rider's organizing work in 1882 to a Romanesque Revival landmark still standing in Jones County, this church is what happens when a community decides, from the very beginning, that it is worth buildin' for.

What the marker says

This congregation was organized in 1882 by the Rev. J. C. Strickland, a pioneer Methodist circuit rider. In 1908, during the pastorate of the Rev. W. H. Terry, local builder Thomas Veitch constructed this Romanesque Revival building for the church. The original bell tower was eventually lowered to avoid possible wind damage. Later additions to the sanctuary reflect the growth of the church, a leader in Anson's development for over a century. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark -1982