A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church

Born in Elgin on November 1, 1889, A. Frank Smith took a degree at Southwestern University and studied at Vanderbilt before his first appointment, to Alto in 1914. Two years later he organized the church on the SMU campus that became Highland Park Methodist. He moved to First Methodist in Houston in 1922 and was elected bishop in 1930. He spent fourteen years over the Oklahoma Indian Mission, was resident bishop of the Houston area from 1934 to 1960 and chaired the SMU trustees from 1938 to 1960. He died on October 5, 1962.

What the plaque says

A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church Circuit riding preachers served the Methodists of this community as early as 1845. The first written records of this church date from 1852, when the Rev. Andrew Cummings (1817-1882) organized the fellowship as a station of the newly established Rusk circuit. Originally a Methodist society, it became in 1866 the Methodist Episcopal Church South of Alto. Early services were held in the schoolhouse. In 1887 A. C. Harrison (1841-1924) and his wife Virginia (1843-1912) donated land at the site of the present-day parsonage for the congregation's first church building. Dr. C. W. Fisher, Mrs. Harrison's brother, designed the one-room spired structure and built a scale model of it. The building was enlarged under the leadership of the Rev. J. W. Johnson, who was named pastor in 1909, when Alto became a full-time station with weekly services. A new sanctuary was built on the present site in 1921. It was dedicated in 1935 at a ceremony led by Bishop A. Frank Smith (1889-1962), who began his ministry as interim pastor of this church. In 1960 the present building was erected and the congregation renamed to honor Bishop Smith. (1977)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 5.7 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Robert F. Mitchell — 0.3 mi
• Camp Alto, World War II Prisoner of War Camp — 1.2 mi
• Site of the Delaware Indian Village — 1.3 mi
• Site of Lacy's Fort — 1.6 mi