First Christian Church of Midland

The congregation's new building of 1950 went up in a city transformed by oil. As Permian Basin production expanded after 1945, Midland grew from a small country town into a city whose skyline could be seen thirty miles away. By 1950, 215 oil companies had offices there, and the population rose from 21,713 that year to 62,625 in 1960. The city adopted a formal plan for its growth in 1950, the year Midland Memorial Hospital opened; the Midland Symphony followed in 1953, and the county opened a two-story library and museum in 1959.

What the plaque says

First Christian Church of Midland Chartered in 1890, the First Christian Church of Midland was organized by sixteen members who met in private homes until 1892. Tradition of service to the church and community began when charter member S. E. Townsend pledged $300 toward the first of two downtown church buildings. The church grew steadily; by 1950 the congregation had erected a large building on the northwestern edge of Midland, making additions as needed. In 1990, the congregation celebrated its 100th anniversary and continues to serve the community with a variety of outreach programs and religious activities. (1997)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Bush Family Home State Historic Site — 0.2 mi
  The small 1939 frame house on West Ohio Avenue where George and Barbara Bush raised their young family in Midland's 1950s oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site.
• Museum of the Southwest — 0.6 mi
  Midland's art and science museum in the 1937 house of oilman Fred Turner and his wife Juliette, with added galleries, a children's museum and a planetarium on the grounds.
• Permian Basin Petroleum Museum — 2.0 mi
  Midland's museum of the oil basin it sits on, from a restored diorama of the Permian reef to a 40-acre yard of drilling rigs and Jim Hall's Chaparral race cars.
• Midland Army Air Field Museum — 8.4 mi
  A hangar museum at Midland's airport, run by Commemorative Air Force volunteers, telling how a 1927 grass field became the bombardier college that graduated 6,627 officers in World War II.

More markers nearby

• George Bush Family Home — 0.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Midland — 0.6 mi
• Midland National Bank — 0.6 mi
• W. B. Anglin — 0.8 mi