DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm going to do it justice. Now, every good story has a beginning, and out here in Waco, that beginning was about as humble as they come. Somewhere near this very spot, around 1850, a group of worshipers gathered inside a simple log house — nothing fancy, nothing permanent — to hear a Methodist minister named Joseph P.
Sneed deliver a sermon. That log house, long since removed from the face of the earth, is considered the first church building in Waco. And the people who showed up to hear Sneed preach?
They're credited with founding Waco's very first Methodist congregation. One sermon in a log house. That's how it started.
Sneed himself was no stranger to the road. Before he ever set foot in Waco, he'd been riding circuit as an itinerant Methodist preacher with the Mississippi Conference, working through Louisiana and Arkansas. A man who'd carried the gospel on horseback across that much territory knew something about starting things from nothing.
After 1851, he stayed in Texas — put down roots, you might say — and he died in Milam County in 1881. But before he rode off into the rest of his life, he left something behind. Around 1851, the Methodists raised up a frame church at Second and Jackson Street, two blocks southwest of where we're standing, with Sneed himself as pastor.
That building did more than hold Sunday services — it ran as a Sunday school too, and somewhere along the way it started welcoming Baptists and Presbyterians through the same front door. One modest frame building, doing the work of several congregations. Waco was growing, though.
By 1858, the Methodists were ready for something sturdier, and they built a brick church at Third and Franklin Streets, three blocks to the west. That building no longer stands. Ten years later, in 1868, the congregation moved back to Second and Jackson Streets — not to the old frame church, but to meet in the new Waco Female College, a Methodist institute.
Then in 1879 they made their most impressive move yet, into what the marker calls an imposing new structure at Fifth and Jackson Streets, five blocks southwest. This congregation carried on, and after 1919 it was known officially as First Methodist Church. Unofficially, people called it something else entirely — the Mother Church.
Because when you trace every move, every building, every congregation that grew from this place, it all leads back to one man standing in a log house around 1850, preaching to whoever would listen. The Mother Church made one final move — in 1963, out to 4901 Cobbs Drive. But the story?
The story starts right here.
What the marker says
Near this site about 1850, according to local tradition, worshipers gathered in a simple log house to hear Methodist Minister Joseph P. Sneed deliver a sermon. The house, long since removed, is considered the first Waco church building, and Sneed's followers are credited with founding Waco's first Methodist congregation. Sneed had previously served as an itinerant Methodist preacher with the Mississippi Conference in Lousiana and Arkansas. After 1851 he remained in Texas and died in Milam County in 1881. About 1851 the Methodists erected a frame church at Second and Jackson street (2 blocks SW), with Sneed as pastor. That building also served as a Sunday school and was later used by both Baptists and Presbyterians. In 1858 the Methodists built a brick church at Third and Franklin streets (three blocks west), no longer extant. The congregation moved services back to Second and Jackson streets in 1868 to meet in the new Waco Female College, a Methodist Institute. In 1879 these Methodists moved to an imposing new structure at Fifth and Jackson streets (five blocks SW). This congregation, known officially as First Methodist Church after 1919 and unofficially as the "Mother Church," moved in 1963 to 4901 Cobbs Drive.