Fannin Street United Methodist Church

The church's first name, Methodist Episcopal, places it in the northern branch of American Methodism, which organized in Texas in 1865 and by 1876 had its Black and White members in separate conferences. When the branches reunited in 1939, Black congregations were set apart again in a segregated Central Jurisdiction, a plan Black churches had opposed. The 1968 merger that made the United Methodist Church, and gave this congregation its present name, called for ending that jurisdiction; by 1970 Black Texas Methodists had been absorbed into the state's five geographic conferences.

What the plaque says

Fannin Street United Methodist Church The Fannin Street United Methodist Church began in 1872. One of the earliest African American churches in Goliad County, it was founded after emancipation when many former slaves who previously worshipped with their owners established their own churches. Originally known as the Methodist Episcopal Church, the name changed to Fannin Street United Methodist in 1968. Built in the traditional style of small country churches, Fannin Street United Methodist Church has a steeply gabled roof and a cupola with four openings. The bell was made by the Cincinnati Bell Foundry. The church experienced several disasters including a hurricane in 1886 at its first site at Horseshoe Bend, but the tornado that struck here on May 18, 1902 destroyed the church and killed fifty parishioners. A marker was erected at the Lott Cemetery in honor of those buried there. The church was rebuilt in 1903 and later improvements included a pastor's study, choir room, gallery and fellowship hall. A third disaster hit the church on Sept. 13, 1976 when lightning destroyed the steeple, leaving only the mark of a cross. The bell was unable to be replaced and was mounted in front of the church. The church has been involved in community life that included baptisms in Coleto Creek, the anniversary of the church, and the singing rally held at different community churches. Although these activities ended in the 1970s, the church continues to operate a booth at Goliad Market Days and hold worship services at the La Bahia nursing home. The church survived many setbacks but the congregation endures and exemplifies the phrase, "the church is not the building; it's the people." (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Goliad State Park and Historic Site — 0.8 mi
  Mission Espíritu Santo on the San Antonio River, a mission ranch whose herds seeded Texas cattle country, rebuilt from ruin by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.
• Zaragoza Birthplace State Historic Site — 1.5 mi
  A rebuilt stone house beside La Bahía marking where Ignacio Seguín Zaragoza, the general of the Battle of Puebla and Cinco de Mayo, was born in 1829.
• Presidio La Bahía — 1.5 mi
  A Spanish fort on its third site since 1749, held in turn by filibusters, insurgents and Fannin's Fort Defiance, rebuilt in stone in the 1960s around a chapel that never fell.
• Fannin Memorial Monument — 1.7 mi
  The 1938 pink granite memorial over the common grave of Fannin's men, shot on the roads out of Goliad on Palm Sunday 1836, the grave itself found again only in the 1930s.

More markers nearby

• Founding Site of First Baptist Church of Goliad — steps away
• Goliad Advance-Guard — 0.2 mi
• St. Stephen's Episcopal Church — 0.2 mi
• John Mason Brewer — 0.2 mi