The stained glass windows in the First Christian Church building of Taylor, Texas (now United Christian Church) are simply fantastic! I haven’t seen windows quite like this anywhere else. The architect for the 1891 Gothic Revival building was E.S. Mackin (listed as “E.B. Mackin” on the historical marker). I haven’t been able to find much …
The Beautiful Stained Glass of First Christian Church of Taylor, Texas Read More »
This church in Taylor, Texas has a link to Howard Hughes, and maybe even George Washington! How so? Well, on December 9, 1877, twenty-two families met in the Odd Fellows Hall in Taylor and organized First Christian Church with the help of Rev. Richard Montgomery Gano. Over the next seven days, Gano preached daily and …
George Washington, Howard Hughes, and Taylor Texas Read More »
Not too long ago, I visited the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Dessau again at sunset. This church (which disbanded twenty-five years ago) and its cemetery are about all that is left of the little town of Dessau (though the area is growing rapidly today), which got its start in the late nineteenth century when German …
And we were dancing to the music of the Dessau Waltz… Read More »
Another view of the interior of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Falls County, Texas. The 1920 building still serves the congregation, which was founded a little over twenty-five years earlier in 1894.
The Church of the Visitation stood here in Westphalia, Texas for nearly 125 years before burning in July. I wish I’d made it out that way before then, but I’m glad we stopped by yesterday. Fortunately, the congregation has a parish hall where they gather as they work toward rebuilding. Westphalia is a neat little …
“Listen… do you hear the train coming?” When I was a kid, my Uncle Gene Strickland would ask me that question whenever we were outside and we would hear the Seaboard Coast Line trains rolling through Youngsville, NC, some five miles to the west. Forty years later I still listen for trains, so when I …
I’ve had too much going on recently to research or write any history, so here’s a photograph from the archives… the 1914 Anderson County Courthouse in Palestine, Texas. This impressive Renaissance Revival building was designed by Charles Henry Page & Brothers of Austin.I photographed it on New Years Day this year while on the way …
Margie and I extend our deepest condolences to Jane Martens and the family of the Rev. Dr. Ray Martens+, who passed away on Saturday, October 5. Much of what I know about the history of the Missouri Synod in Lee County (and Texas) comes from the writings of his grandfather, the Rev. Gotthilf Birkmann, who …
On Monday, I re-discovered my copy of The WPA Guide to Texas. (Moving is awful, y’all… a year and a half later, and my library is still disorganized. That may or may not be because I spend more time taking photos and driving around Texas than organizing it, or because I keep buying more books. But …