St. Luke's Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. St. Luke's Church in Denison, Grayson County.

The oldest house of worship in Denison. The oldest Episcopal sanctuary in all of Grayson County. Now, when you hear a building carry both of those titles, you pay attention.

This one earned them the old-fashioned way, brick by brick, decade by decade. The story starts with the site itself. The Denison Town Company gave the land.

That's where it all begins. Then, in May of 1873, the Right Reverend Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, paid a visit. A visitation, the marker calls it, and that word carries weight.

This wasn't a casual stop. This was a man of standing coming to set something in motion. Two years later, in 1875, the cornerstone was laid.

And the man who laid it was the Right Reverend A. C. Garrett, bishop of the Missionary District of Northern Texas.

You lay a cornerstone, you're making a promise to a community. And Garrett kept his. Because the very next year, 1876, he came back and consecrated that church.

The promise fulfilled. Now here's the part that'll stay with you. That original building, the one born out of a donated lot and two bishops and a cornerstone laid in 1875, it didn't get torn down when the congregation grew.

It became the nave of the present church. The old walls didn't give way. They became the heart of something larger.

On October 18th, 1968, St. Luke's marked its 95th anniversary, and the marker commemorates exactly that occasion. Some buildings hold a town's memory.

This one holds its faith.

What the marker says

Denison's oldest house of worship and oldest Episcopal sanctuary in Grayson County. Site given by Denison Town Company and visitation by the Ret. Rev. Alexander Gregg, first bishop of Texas, in May 1873. Cornerstone was laid in 1875 by the Rt. Rev. A. C. Garrett, bishop of Missionary District of Northern Texas. Church was consecrated by him in 1876. The original building forms nave of the present church. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1969 Incise in base: Commemorative for 95th Anniversary, Oct. 18, 1968