Southside Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in 1892, Fort Worth was growing fast, especially on its southern end. The city was stretching out, filling in, and folks down that way needed a place to gather and worship.

So a congregation was established right in the thick of that growth, led by Dr. I.L. Van Zandt and other elders.

They called it the Southside Church of Christ, and from the very beginning, they were planting roots in ground that was very much still finding its shape. Now, a congregation that starts in a boomtown either grows with the boom or gets swallowed by it. This one grew.

For several decades, the Southside Church of Christ expanded steadily; quietly building something that would last. Then came 1916, and the next chapter. That year, the congregation purchased a church building and merged with another congregation, one known as the Central Church of Christ.

Two groups, one roof, one future. And as if to make it official in every way possible, they incorporated the following year (1917) under a new name that honored both: the Southside Central Church of Christ. The name said exactly what had happened.

Nothing hidden, nothing lost. Then came 1959, when the congregation relocated to this very site. A new address, but the same thread running all the way back to those fast-growing streets of 1892.

Today, the church reaches outward through community outreach and missionary programs. Dr. Van Zandt and those early elders built something that didn't just survive Fort Worth's growth; it kept on growin' right along with it.

What the marker says

This congregation, initially led by Dr. I.L. Van Zandt and other elders, was established in a fast growing southern area of Fort Worth in 1892. Named Southside Church of Christ, the new congregation experienced several decades of steady growth before purchasing a church building and merging with another congregation known as the Central Church of Christ in 1916. The congregation incorporated in 1917 under the name Southside Central Church Christ. The congregation relocated to this site in 1959. The church sponsors community outreach and missionary programs.