First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde

Uvalde honey came from the guajilla shrub. D. M. Edwards sent the county's first shipment, a case of bulk comb honey, in July 1883, and in the 1890s James Whitecotton of Laguna was counted the largest honey dealer in the country, with sales estimated at a million pounds a year. Honey from the county took first place at the 1900 Paris World's Fair, and production reached 161,800 pounds that year. The Depression drove many beekeepers out of the business, but Uvalde went on calling itself the honey capital of the world.

What the plaque says

First Presbyterian Church of Uvalde The Western Texas Presbytery assigned the Rev. James R. Bridges to the Uvalde field in 1881. Serving Bandera, Brackettville, Del Rio, Montell and the Nueces and Frio Canyon areas, Bridges found Uvalde and especially its surrounding areas wild and often dangerous. However, he soon met Presbyterian families who were anxious to organize a new church. William and Mattie Jones and their six children, also new arrivals to the area, helped the young minister gather charter members and organize the church. In February 1882, the Rev. Mr. Bridges and eleven charter members met in Uvalde and organized the Uvalde Presbyterian Church. The Presbyterians met in the Methodist church building while funds were raised for a meeting house of their own. The new building was dedicated in 1883, the same year that Bridges was called to serve in Baltimore. A windstorm destroyed the church building early in the 20th century, and a new facility was built in 1907. In 1909, the Rev. Thomas Alexander Hardin of Tennessee became minister of the Uvalde church. His arrival ended years of uncertainty for the church and began an era of stability. The 1907 church building was moved to this site in 1914. A ladies' group, later called the Women's Auxiliary, was in operation by 1921. Ill health compelled the Rev. Mr. Hardin to retire in 1933; he was pastor emeritus until his death in 1946. The church grew in numbers despite the difficulties of World War II. A men's group began in 1947. In the 1950s and early 1960s a new church complex was completed. The church has remained active in community service and worship, growing steadily since that time. (1999)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Uvalde Grand Opera House — steps away
  An 1891 Victorian opera house on the Uvalde square with a turret and a dragon weathervane, once owned by John Nance Garner and still staging volunteer theater upstairs.
• Briscoe-Garner Museum — 0.3 mi
  The Uvalde house of John Nance Garner, the vice president who made the office a power in Congress, now a free museum to him and to Governor Dolph Briscoe.
• Fort Inge Historical Site — 2.7 mi
  A county park on the Leona River below a 140-foot volcanic plug, where an army post guarded the new road to El Paso from 1849 to 1869 and Texas Rangers camped after.

More markers nearby

• Original Site of Uvalde High School — steps away
• Captain William Benson — steps away
• L. Schwartz Company — steps away
• Uvalde Methodist Church — steps away