Travis Park United Methodist Church

The college that met in this congregation's chapel ended up as part of a Presbyterian university. Trinity University opened at Tehuacana in 1869 and moved to Waxahachie in 1902. In 1942 the Synod of Texas accepted an invitation from the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce to move it here, and the Methodists' University of San Antonio handed over its property; Trinity recognized all credits and degrees of that school and its predecessors and took their students as alumni. In 1952 Trinity moved to a hilltop campus on a former rock quarry, designed with architect O'Neil Ford.

What the plaque says

Travis Park United Methodist Church Founded by the Rev. John Wesley DeVilbiss (1818-83), missionary to Republic of Texas, who in 1844 preached first protestant sermon ever heard in San Antonio and in June 1846 organized his congregation in the courthouse. Villagers called him"the little priest that owns the bell, "as he rang calls to worship from vacant lot bought for church on Commerce Street and afterward preached there. The earliest methodist building was a chapel erected in 1852 on Soledad Street and named for Bishop Paine. Cultural life of the city was enriched in 1859 when San Antonio female college, later the University of San Antonio, opened in Paine Chapel. This institution was to merge with others nearly a century later to form trinity University (1942). The Travis Park edifice was begun in pastorate of Dr. W.J. Young (1882) with S.C. Bennett, Francis Crider, G. H. Johnston, James T. Thornton, W.L. Thompson, and William Votaw on building committee. Additions (1901,1910,1922,1941) modified the Romanesque Revival architecture. A 1955 fire prompted major remodeling. Memorial windows depict the congregation's history. Pastors have included many noted men, five having been elected bishops. (1973)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Alamo — 0.3 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• San Fernando Cathedral — 0.3 mi
  The Canary Islanders' parish church on Main Plaza, where Bowie married and Santa Anna raised a red flag, rebuilt in Gothic Revival around the walls of the 1750s church.
• San Antonio River Walk — 0.4 mi
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.
• Spanish Governor's Palace — 0.4 mi
  The last visible piece of the Presidio San Antonio de Béxar: a presidio captain's house with a 1749 keystone, a century as shops and saloons, and a romantic 1930 restoration.

More markers nearby

• Old Military Headquarters — steps away
• Saint Mary's, Old, Site Of — steps away
• Casino Club — steps away
• Site of Home (1850 to 1870) of Samuel Augustus Maverick — steps away