Waples Memorial United Methodist Church

Duane's take

The official marker tells it this way, and I'm just the one passing it along. Now Denison, Texas was a brand new town when this story begins. March of 1873, and someone had already gone to the trouble of counting heads.

A survey of the newly established town turned up exactly forty citizens who called themselves Methodist. Forty souls. And that was enough.

Reverend Alexander Jamison was sent to Denison to organize a congregation. A mission church of the North Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church South took shape, and Reverend Z. Parker stepped in as the first pastor.

They met in a one-room frame building at 430 West Skiddy Street. One room. Frame.

But it was theirs. The church earned its official charter in 1881. Then, around 1887, a couple moved over from Sherman to Denison, and their arrival would end up meaning more than anyone might have guessed at the time.

Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Waples joined the young congregation.

Now here is where the story gets interesting. In 1888 and 1889, E.B. Waples released the trustees of the church from a note.

Not a small note, either. One thousand, six hundred and ninety-two dollars and seventy-six cents of debt. Released.

For the amount of one dollar. The church's financial burden, gone. Shortly before E.B.

Waples died in 1898, he gave the first monetary gift toward the construction of a new, larger building, to be erected at 830 West Main Street. He did not live to see it finished. But when that new church was completed, the congregation made sure the name said everything that needed saying.

They called it Waples Memorial Methodist Church, South, to honor the faith and effort of Mr. and Mrs. Waples. The congregation kept building from there.

A Sunday school was established in 1910. An Epworth League followed soon after. Then in 1936, the church took on sponsorship of Boy Scout Troop 605, and that sponsorship has continued from that day to this.

A later church edifice rose on the same property in 1965. Forty Methodists, counted in a survey of a brand new town. That is where it started.

Today, Waples Memorial United Methodist Church stands as the oldest existing Methodist congregation in Denison, still serving its community. Forty became something that lasted.

What the marker says

In March 1873, after a survey of the newly-established town of Denison enumerated 40 citizens of the Methodist denomination, Reverend Alexander Jamison was sent to the town to organize a Methodist congregation. A new church was soon established as a mission church of the North Texas conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church south, and Reverend Z. Parker served as the first pastor. The church’s first structure was a one-room frame building located at 430 W. Skiddy street. The church was granted an official charter in 1881. Around 1887, Mr. and Mrs. E.B. Waples, for whom the church was named, became members of the young congregation after moving from Sherman to Denison. In 1888-1889, Waples released the trustees of the church from a 1,692.76 note for the amount of one dollar, relieving the church’s debt. Shortly before E.B. Waples’ death in 1898, he gave the first monetary gift to the church for the construction of a new, larger building to be erected at 830 W. Main street. Upon the completion of the new church, the congregation decided on the name Waples Memorial Methodist Church, South, to honor the faith and effort of Mr. and Mrs. Waples. A later church edifice was erected on the same property in 1965. The congregation established a Sunday school in 1910, and soon thereafter an Epworth League was formed. In 1936, the church began sponsorship of Boy Scout troup 605, which has continued since that time. Today, Waples Memorial United Methodist Church, the oldest existing Methodist Congregation in Denison, continues to serve its community.