{"nrhp_refnum":"80004133","name":"First Methodist Church","other_names":["First United Methodist Chruch","Methodist Episcopal Church of South Marshall"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"300 E. Houston St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marshall","county":"Harrison County","state":"TX","lat":32.625868240000045,"lon":-94.36651512399999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-07-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Military","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national","state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival church building at 300 East Houston Street in Marshall, Harrison County, Texas, built 1860-1861 of locally fired stuccoed brick, with masonry by Alexander Pope and carpentry by Billington Smalley.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the few monumentally scaled Greek Revival churches in Texas. It was also a notable site in the Civil War, hosting the first Trans-Mississippi conference called by Confederate President Jefferson Davis in 1862. A later amendment raised the level of significance to national under Criterion A and state under Criterion C.","narrative":"Built between 1860 and 1861, this stuccoed brick church at 300 East Houston Street in Marshall, Texas, is a rare example of monumentally scaled Greek Revival church architecture in the state. Its north front has a four-column portico with massive square columns, topped by an octagonal cupola added in 1949. Local slave labor fired the bricks, with Alexander Pope as mason and Billington Smalley as carpenter. Additions in 1927, 1949 and 1958 extended the south end for classrooms, offices and a chapel while leaving the main facade largely intact. During the Civil War, Marshall was a strategic Confederate city. The church hosted the first Trans-Mississippi conference of governors in 1862, was used for Confederate supply storage, and later served as a legislative hall for Missouri's exiled government. Enoch Mather Marvin, its pastor, was elected bishop in 1866. The congregation continues to use the building.","period_of_significance":"1860-1949","architect_builder":"Pope, Alexander (mason); Smalley, Billington (carpenter)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility, with education and sports uses; described as in excellent condition and carefully maintained.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.440945-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/9725/40972513/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/80004133.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004133/3aa8341172-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004133/3aa8341172-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FirstMethodistChurchMarshall.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FirstMethodistChurchMarshall.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972513","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Methodist_Church_(Marshall,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453276"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harrison-county/first-methodist-church-80004133/"}