First Methodist Church of Dayton

Methodist worship services were conducted in West Liberty, later known as Dayton, as early as 1855. By 1900 the First Methodist Church had a full-time pastor, the Rev. G. T. Newberry, who conducted services in the Dayton schoolhouse on North Main Street. In 1906 the congregation built its first sanctuary. A one-story wooden structure with a bell tower, which continued to serve the members until 1928. A church school also was organized in 1906, and Charles Wilson was elected to serve as the first superintendent. A series of worship and education facilities were constructed to accommodate the growing congregation through the years, including a large two-story brick building with a basement on the northwest corner of Houston Avenue and Cleveland Street in 1928. Due to continued growth, the 1928 structure was razed in 1980, and the congregation built a new sanctuary in 1981. After a denominational merger in 1968, the church's name was changed to first United Methodist Church. throughout the years the congregation has served the community with a variety of worship, educational, social, and missionary programs.

First Methodist Church of Dayton is a historical marker in Dayton, Liberty County, dedicated in 1991. It is one of 60 historical markers documented in Liberty County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 133 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 30.0431, -94.8896 near Dayton. The nearest cataloged historic site is Dayton's Old School (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include First Baptist Church of Dayton, Judge Walter S. Neel House, and The Runaway Scrape.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5291009652. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.