First Christian Church of San Marcos

The architect of this 1893 church had a long career in Texas. Edward Northcraft, born in Indiana in 1833, settled in San Marcos after the Civil War, and his obituary credited him with the Southwest Texas Normal, the Sam Houston Normal and the Gatesville reformatory, along with many courthouses. A smaller job of his survives in the San Marcos Cemetery: in 1886 he and builder Ralph Smith contracted to put up a cross-plan chapel for $450 in five months. The church lot came from banker Ed J. L. Green for a dollar.

What the plaque says

First Christian Church of San Marcos Formed by the Rev. Henry Thomas in 1853 with only two members, the congregation had grown to fifty members by 1856. After the Civil War, it was reactivated by the Rev. W. H. D. Carrington of Austin. The present church building was constructed in 1893, when some members withdrew because of doctrinal conflicts. Designed by architect Edward Northcraft (1833-1919), it was erected on land donated by banker Edwin J. L. Green (1841-1924). Membership increased after a revival led by Evangelist J. B. Boen in 1895, and a new sanctuary was added in 1910. In 1975, the fellowship included about 125 families. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Spring Lake and the Meadows Center — 4.2 mi
  The headsprings of the San Marcos River, among the longest-inhabited places in North America, once an amusement park with a swimming pig and now seen from glass-bottom boats.
• Gruene Historic District — 13 mi
  A cotton town on the Guadalupe that the boll weevil emptied, rescued in the 1970s by a kayaking architecture student, with a dance hall that says it has never closed.
• Sophienburg Museum and Archives — 16 mi
  The hilltop where Prince Carl of Solms-Braunfels raised the Adelsverein's headquarters in 1845, now the museum and archive of the German colony that became New Braunfels.
• Lockhart Courthouse Square — 20 mi
  A cotton-era courthouse town named the Barbecue Capital of Texas, built near the 1840 Plum Creek fight that followed the killing of Comanche leaders at peace talks.

More markers nearby

• San Marcos Cemetery — 2.7 mi
• Peter Cavanaugh Woods — 2.8 mi
• Wonder Cave — 3.2 mi
• Belvin Street Historic District — 3.3 mi