Texarkana in Bowie County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)
First Disciples of Christ in Texas
(9 mi, NW)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 1, 2025
1. First Disciples of Christ in Texas Marker
Worshiped in 1831 at McKinney's Landing, where the McKinney family and a small group of neighbors met together for informal services. During the winter of 1841-1842, a traveling preacher from Illinois, G. Gates, organized the congregation into a church. He later wrote, I remained with the brethren about a week... gathered scattered sheep and constituted a church of 16 members, with fair prospects for more.
First leader of the group was Collin McKinney (1766-1861), who had come with his family from Kentucky to Texas in 1831, when Mexico governed the state. The worship services he started were in defiance of the laws of Mexico, which demanded the allegiance of each citizen to the Catholic religion. In 1836, he signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. Collin County and the city of McKinney bear his name.
Between 1844 and 1846, the McKinney families and neighbors moved their congregation to Mantua, near Van Alstyne, where they met in a wooden church with a four-foot wall separating men from women. Five slaves of the family were members of the Mantua group. When the railroad built past Van Alstyne, they moved there and organized the First Christian Church, a direct descendant of the 1831 congregation.
Erected 1967 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 9479.)
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1831.
Location. 33° 25.326′ N, 94° 2.595′ W. Marker is in Texarkana, Texas, in Bowie County. It is at the intersection of Pine Street and North State Line Avenue, on the left when traveling south on Pine Street. The marker is located in the triangular plaza in front of the Museum of Regional History. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 219 North State Line Avenue, Texarkana TX 75501, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the American South, specifically in the Deep South, and in the Piney Woods. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain, the Republic of Texas, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Offenhauser Building (a few steps from this marker); Otis Williams & The Temptations Mural (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); East Broad Street Historic District (about 400 feet away in Arkansas); Saenger Theatre (about 400 feet away); Booth-Rowe Building (about 500 feet away in Arkansas); Sandberger-Rowe Building (about 500 feet away in Arkansas); Ace of Clubs House (approx. 0.2 miles away); St. James Episcopal Church (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Texarkana.
Related markers. Click here for a list of markers that are related to this marker.
Also see . . . History and Growth of the Disciples of Christ in Texas (Texas State Historical Association)
Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 1, 2025
2. First Disciples of Christ in Texas Marker
Looking north from the Pine Street & North State Line Avenue intersection. Pine Street is on the left. The Museum of Regional History building is in the background.
(By Colby D. Hall and Kenneth L. Teegarden) Excerpt: The Disciples of Christ in Texas are a part of a movement started by Barton W. Stone in Kentucky in 1804, and by Thomas and Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio between 1809 and 1823. The two groups united in 1832, and the church moved westward with the tide of migration. The earliest Disciples who came to Texas were led by Collin McKinney. They stopped on the border of Texas just east of Texarkana in 1824 and in 1831 moved on to the Hickman's Prairie and McKinney's Landing areas on the Red River in what is now Bowie County. A church was organized in 1841 with G. Gates as minister and Collin McKinney as elder. The families of the group gradually moved westward until they were all living in Collin and Grayson counties, where, in 1846, they organized Old Liberty or Mantua Church, which became the First Christian Church of Van Alstyne. From this early church sprang most of the Christian churches in North Texas.(Submitted on October 22, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)
Credits. This page was last revised on October 22, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 20, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 58 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on October 22, 2025, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.
