First Christian Church of Llano

The Disciples of Christ reached Texas with Collin McKinney's party, which stopped east of Texarkana in 1824 and moved to the Red River in 1831; a church followed in 1841 with McKinney as elder. In 1846 the group, by then in Collin and Grayson counties, organized Old Liberty or Mantua Church, later First Christian of Van Alstyne, from which most North Texas Christian churches sprang. In 1836 the D'Spain family settled at Nacogdoches; their daughter Hettie became the mother of Addison and Randolph Clark, who founded Add-Ran College, now Texas Christian University.

What the plaque says

First Christian Church of Llano This congregation began worshiping together about 1882. Early services were held in a two-room schoolhouse. By 1886, members were meeting in the county courthouse, and two years later, the church moved to this site. Early baptisms were held in the Llano River. The congregation officially became known as the First Christian Church in 1910. Over the years, classrooms and a fellowship hall were added to the 1888 sanctuary to accommodate membership growth and expanded programs. A part of the cultural history of Llano for more than 100 years, First Christian Church continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders. (2002)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Llano County Courthouse Square — 0.2 mi
  The 1893 Romanesque courthouse on Llano's square, built after a fire at the height of a boom that was meant to make the granite town an iron city.
• Inks Dam National Fish Hatchery — 17 mi
  A free federal hatchery below Inks Dam on the Colorado, with thirty production ponds that draw birds and a look at how fish are raised from egg to harvest.
• Inks Lake State Park — 18 mi
  A state park on a constant-level lake of the Colorado, between Buchanan and Inks dams, with pink granite and gneiss at the water and CCC work along Park Road 4.
• Enchanted Rock State Natural Area — 19 mi
  A dome of pink granite north of Fredericksburg that rises some 385 feet above Sandy Creek, creaks as it cools at night, and has drawn people for thousands of years.

More markers nearby

• Richmond Alexander McInnis — steps away
• St. James Lutheran Church — steps away
• Frank Teich — 0.2 mi
• Llano Woman's Culture Club — 0.2 mi