Saint Paul's Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Saint Paul's Church, Cooke County. Some buildings just carry weight.

Not only the weight of limestone and brick, but the kind that comes from years and decisions and people who showed up and did the work. Saint Paul's Church is one of those buildings. It was founded on May 10, 1877.

That date alone is worth sitting with. Reconstruction was barely behind Texas, and here were folks in Cooke County planting a church. Seven years passed, and on May 12, 1884, Bishop A.

C. Garrett laid the cornerstone. The land itself was a gift from Judge J.

M. Lindsay, a civic leader, and that kind of generosity has a way of echoing forward through time. Now, the building they raised on that land was no ordinary structure.

English Gothic architecture, right there in North Texas. And they didn't haul in fancy materials from somewhere far off. The brick was made locally.

The foundation, though, that's where the story gets a little cinematic. Huge limestone slabs, hauled to the site by oxcart. You think about that the next time you're crossing smooth highway.

Somebody moved stone by ox to build something meant to last. The first service held in that church was August 6, 1885. Then came more milestones.

By 1888, Saint Paul's had become a Parish. And when the Diocese of Dallas was created in 1895, Saint Paul's was counted among the thirteen original Parishes. Thirteen.

Not a coincidence that number sticks in the memory. Then on May 6, 1900, the church was consecrated. A cornerstone in 1884, consecrated in 1900.

That's a community that did not rush, and did not quit. The limestone is still there under it all, right where those oxcarts left it.

What the marker says

Founded May 10, 1877. Bishop A.C. Garrett laid cornerstone May 12, 1884, on land given by Judge J. M. Lindsay, civic leader. English Gothic architecture. Built of brick made locally. Foundation of huge limestone slabs, hauled to site by oxcart. First service in this church Aug. 6, 1885. Consecrated May 6, 1900. Saint Paul's had become a Parish, 1888; one of 13 original Parishes when the Diocese of Dallas was created in 1895. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1966.