The Telico Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, out on the Ellis County landscape, there sits a church that has outlasted denominations, decades, and at least one tornado, and that last part is not a figure of speech. The Telico Church was built in 1867, raised up for the Kirkpatrick Presbyterian Church.

That's a building with some years on it, and some stories to match. It was designed in the Greek Revival style, but whoever drew up those plans wasn't stopping there; they layered in high Victorian Italianate details on top. Shoulder architraves.

Paired brackets running along the cornice. Six-over-six windows looking out at the Texas sky. That is a building that dressed up for the occasion and never quite dressed back down.

Now, the Presbyterians had it first, but this sanctuary was the kind of place that served whoever needed it. By 1909, it was a Baptist church, and it held that congregation for more than fifty years, all the way to 1961. But somewhere in the middle of all that faithful service, in 1960, a tornado came through and tore the building clean off its foundation.

Tore it off. And yet, it stood. They stabilized what was left, held it together, and then in 1986, a restoration project came along and returned the church to its historic appearance.

So what you're looking at today is a building that was born in 1867, survived a tornado, and came back looking like itself. That's not stubbornness. That's just a Texas church doing what Texas churches do.

What the marker says

Built in 1867 for the Kirkpatrick Presbyterian Church, this sanctuary later served other denominations. It was a Baptist church from 1909 to 1961. Designed in the Greek Revival style with high Victorian Italianate details, it features shoulder architraves, paired brackets in the cornice, and six-over-six windows. The building was stabilized after a 1960 tornado tore it from its foundation. A 1986 restoration project returned the church to its historic appearance.