First Christian Church of Big Spring

Big Spring gained a regional institution in 1939, when Big Spring State Hospital began receiving patients. The legislature voted to establish it in 1937, so that people from the vast West Texas region no longer had to be carried far from home for psychiatric care; the city won it by donating the land and guaranteeing a permanent water supply. The original complex had eight buildings. The hospital was the first Texas mental hospital to unlock its doors during daylight hours and among the first to run aftercare programs and an organized volunteer program.

What the plaque says

First Christian Church of Big Spring In 1882, the same year Howard County was formally organized, this congregation was established with seven charter members. Worship services were first conducted in the home of Mr. and Mrs. I. D. Eddins. The first pastor was The Rev. J. Wright. Members constructed a small frame sanctuary at 305 Gregg, but as the congregation grew, new facilities were built on Scurry Street and later at this site. For over a century, under the direction of several prominent Disciples of Christ leaders, the First Christian Church has been a vital force in Big Spring. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hotel Settles — 0.5 mi
  Big Spring's fifteen-story hotel of 1930, built on ranch oil money, once the tallest building between Fort Worth and El Paso, empty and roosted in by pigeons for decades and now restored.
• Big Spring State Park — 1.8 mi
  A CCC drive looping up Scenic Mountain, a 200-foot bluff above the town that grew around the only dependable spring within sixty miles of open Llano country.
• Hangar 25 Air Museum — 3.1 mi
  A restored World War II hangar on the old air base above Big Spring, telling the story of the bombardier school of 1942 and of Webb Air Force Base, which trained pilots until 1977.

More markers nearby

• Big Spring School District — 0.3 mi
• First National Bank in Big Spring — 0.5 mi
• Howard County — 0.5 mi
• The J. & W. Fisher Company — 0.7 mi