First United Methodist Church of Weatherford

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little something extra in the delivery. The First United Methodist Church of Weatherford, Parker County, has been through more than most congregations care to admit. It was organized back in 1857, and ten years later, in 1867, they put up a meetinghouse right there at the corner of Walnut and Church Street.

Solid ground, solid faith, solid start. But Parker County weather had other ideas. In 1886, a tornado came through and took that first sanctuary clean down to memory.

Now, you might think a congregation that's been worshippin' together since 1857 would be shaken by something like that. And maybe they were. But three years after that tornado leveled everything they'd built; three years; they started rising again.

This time, under the leadership of the Reverend James Mackey. And they weren't building modest. They were building Victorian Gothic, with an elaborate tower reaching up like they had a point to make to the sky that had wronged them.

That edifice was dedicated in 1893, and the limestone they used (that same type of limestone) was drawn on again when they added to the church later on. One tornado, two sanctuaries, and a tower that's been standin' ever since. Some stories don't need embellishment.

They just need tellin'.

What the marker says

Organized in 1857, this congregation built a meetinghouse in 1867 at Walnut and Church Street. In 1886 a tornado destroyed the first sanctuary. This structure was begun three years later under the leadership of the Reverend James Mackey. The Victorian Gothic edifice with its elaborate tower was dedicated in 1893. The same type of limestone was later used in building additions to the church. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1979.