First United Methodist Church of San Angelo

A product of 1870s religious zeal on this Indian-menaced frontier. After flood destroyed area's early community of Ben Ficklin (5 mi. S), closing its Sunday school, this church was organized and chartered by the West Texas Methodist Conference in November of 1882. On this site was erected a forty by sixty-foot frame building with a cupola-- said to be the first Protestant church house between Mason and El Paso. The founding pastor was the rugged frontiersman, Parson Andrew Jackson Potter (1830-1895), succeeded in 1886 by the dynamic Rev. Arthur E. Rector (1855-1955). Rapid growth soon necessitated a twenty-foot addition for nursery and choir loft. The building became a community center for various social and religious occasions. Miss Mary West (later Mrs. J. B. Taylor) organized the first choir. Other leading musicians: Miss Amie Cornick, J. R. Sanders, Mrs. L. B. Horton, Mrs. F. O. Perry, and Mrs. Mary Deal Metz. The frame church was replaced in 1904 by a large masonry building in the square "Akron" style then in vogue. The present Gothic edifice was completed in 1950. Four-story educational building was added, 1962. This church has excelled in education, sacred music, and missionary activities over the years. (1972)

First United Methodist Church of San Angelo is a historical marker in San Angelo, Tom Green County, dedicated in 1972. It is one of 43 historical markers documented in Tom Green County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 130 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 31.4639, -100.4353 near San Angelo. The nearest cataloged historic site is Sacred Heart Catholic Church (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include West Texas Utilities Office, Rust, John Yellott, and Masonic Lodge 570.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5451001895. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.