CHURCHES
The Allen brothers deeded land to the Reverend Mr. Littleton Fowler, the Methodist pioneer minister who served as chaplain to the Senate of the Republic of Texas. In 1844, the first church, a Methodist Episcopal, was built on that site. In 1867, the original church was replaced by a new one with a new name, Shearn Methodist Episcopal Church South. In 1883, yet another building replaced the 1867 structure and was renamed the Charles Shearn Memorial Church. Because of the rapid business growth in the area, the parish decided that the location was not suitable for a church any more, sold the land in 1907, and in 1910 built a new church at Main and Clay, where it still stands today, renamed the First Methodist Church.
The Church of Annunciation, built in
1868 at the corner of Texas Avenue and Crawford, is the oldest existing church building in
the city. It was designed in Romanesque style and was made of limestone and cement
plaster with brown trim. Inside the church are marble alters, statues and stained
glass windows; a fresco decorates the sanctuary dome.
Standing in the shadow of the sprawling
Allen Center complex on Robin Street is the Anitoch Missionary Baptist Church, the oldest
black church in the city. It was founded in 1875 by freed slaves, with the Reverend
Mr. Jack Yates as its first pastor. Dr. Benjamin Covington, one of the earliest
black physicians in Houston, was a parishioner of this church.
Christ Episcopal Church, the oldest
congregation in Houston, organized in 1839, is located at the Christ Church Cathedral at
the corner of Texas Avenue and Fannin. Built in 1893, the cathedral was designed by
Silas Mcbeen in the style of the medieval Gothic architecture; it features exquisite
stained glass windows. The church walls are covered with ivy, brought from the walls of
the Westminister Abby in England.
