DUANE
Duane's take
The way I hear it, the official marker tells this story — and it's one worth tellin' right. Back in 1912, the pioneers of Upland — that's a town sitting twelve miles north of here — made a decision. They resettled, following the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway to a new spot, and they brought their community with them.
But a community without a church is just a collection of strangers, so they did what practical people do: they held their religious services in the railroad depot. Now picture that — hymns echoing off train schedules, prayers offered up between arrivals. It wasn't elegant, but it was earnest.
They knew they needed something more permanent. So they set their sights on a corner. This corner.
And they acquired a non-denominational church site right here. Here's where it gets interesting. The man who headed the building fund donors' list was one Ira G.
Yates — who would later become an oil baron. At that moment, though, he was just a man with faith in a church that didn't exist yet. The trustees were a study in ecumenical cooperation: George E.
Blanton, a Baptist; Dr. J. H.
Johnson, Church of Christ; and H. H. Russell, Methodist.
Three denominations, one building fund, zero arguments recorded by this marker. The Rankin Union Church building was finished in 1915, and for good measure, it housed the local school for two years as well. For a good long stretch — all the way until the late 1920s — it was the only church in the entire county.
One building carrying the spiritual weight of Upton County on its shoulders. Then in 1939, this site was sold to the Methodists. H.
H. Russell would have appreciated that, I suspect. A corner that started as common ground, and ended up belonging to one of the very denominations that helped build it.
That's not an accident. That's a town growin' up.
What the marker says
After pioneers of Upland (12 miles N.) resettled here in 1912 on Kansas City, Mexico & Orient Railway, they held religious services in the railroad depot, then acquired a non-denominational church site on this corner. Ira G. Yates, later an oil baron, headed building fund donors' list. George E. Blanton, a Baptist; Dr. J. H. Johnson, Church of Christ; and H. H. Russell, Methodist, were trustees. The "Rankin Union Church" building, finished in 1915, housed local school two years. It was county's only church until the late 1920s. This site was sold to the Methodists in 1939.