Five East Texas fire departments responded to a blaze Monday morning that consumed a 163-year-old Methodist Church in Marshall. In the 1860s, the church served as an ammunition warehouse and meeting place for Confederate leaders, including President Jefferson Davis.
Four ladder trucks and about 75 firefighters from five area fire departments responded to the historic First Methodist Church in Marshall at about 1 a.m. Monday morning. The church is located just east of the historic Harrison County Courthouse, KLTV ABC7 reported.
By sunrise, investigators reported the cupola and much of the roof had collapsed.
The church, built in 1861, received a National Register of Historic Places designation and a Texas Historical Commission marker. The commission states the church is one of the few examples of “monumentally scaled Greek Revival Church” designs in the state.
According to Stephen F. Austin State University records, “Ammunitions were stored within basement during Civil War and the first church bell was given to Confederacy and was replaced 1865 by one stolen from the Federal Army.”
The Department of the Interior reports that a conference of governors led by Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis took place in the church in 1862, the KLTV article states.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation on Monday. The Marshall Fire Department called for assistance from the State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
