Walnut Street Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how Duane tells it back to you. The Walnut Street Church of Christ in Grayson County has a story that stretches back to the 1850s, and that is a long time to be keeping the faith in Texas. By 1920, the congregation had grown enough, and been around long enough, to do something worth remembering.

They completed this building. Not their first. Not their second.

Their third sanctuary. When a congregation builds its third house of worship, you know these are people who are serious about staying put. And they built it to last.

What rose up on Walnut Street was a classical revival sanctuary, the kind of building that tells you something about the people inside it before you ever open the door. Two stories, raised up off the ground, with a central stairway leading you toward a grand portico. And then there are the windows.

Forty-eight stained glass windows. Count them if you like. That number did not happen by accident.

Somebody planned that, somebody paid for it, and a whole community of people said yes. The congregation called this place home until 1963, when they moved on to a new site. But the building they left behind, completed in 1920 with those forty-eight windows catching the light, that building did not stop being a landmark just because the congregation walked out the door.

Some things are built with enough intention that they outlast the occasion. That is what happened here.

What the marker says

Completed in 1920, this classical revival sanctuary first served the congregation of the Walnut Street Church of Christ since 1963, when it moved to a new site, the congregation has ties to the 1850s. Members built this edifice to serve as their third sanctuary. The chapel is a two-story raised structure with a central stairway, grand portico, and 48 stained glass windows. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986