First Christian Church of McKinney

This church formed in 1848 in a town named for a man who lived under many flags. Collin McKinney, born in New Jersey in 1766, joined Barton W. Stone's Christian movement in 1817. On the Red River he served on juries in Miller County, Arkansas, while also petitioning Mexico for redress. At seventy he was the oldest delegate in 1836, helped draft the Texas Declaration of Independence and was given the pen after the signing. He insisted that new counties have straight boundaries. He died in 1861 and was buried at Van Alstyne.

What the plaque says

First Christian Church of McKinney This congregation was formed on April 1, 1848, when about 20 persons gathered to worship at the home of Nancy and Joseph Bryson Wilmeth (1807-1892). After a picnic lunch, the group journeyed about two miles south of the Wilmeth cabin to the new county seat of McKinney. Desiring that the first institution in the town be a religious body, they met at the present site of the courthouse square and formally organized the First Christian Church. Members worshiped first in an unfinished barn and later in Collin County's log courthouse. Lay preachers who conducted services included Wilmeth and James Sanford Muse (1804-1878), both of whom had studied under Alexander Campbell, one of the founders of the Christian Church. Members of this congregation erected their first church building in 1858 and shared the small frame structure with other denominations. In the tradition of the day, men sat on the side of the sanctuary and women of the other. Despite the hardships of frontier life and the chaos of the Civil War, this fellowship grew and flourished. In 1872 the Rev. R.C. Horn became the first full-time pastor. Members erected their second church building in 1897 and in 1970 dedicated the present facility. (1978)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 3.1 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.
• Rockwall County Historical Foundation & Museum — 22 mi
  A small museum in Harry Myers Park that keeps the evidence on Rockwall's rock wall, sandstone dikes that geologists call natural and folk tales call built.

More markers nearby

• First Presbyterian Church of McKinney — 0.7 mi
• Site of Muse Academy — 0.8 mi
• Waddill-Morris Homesite — 1.0 mi
• Collin County — 1.2 mi