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BASTROP — With a century at the corner of Main and Farm streets, one of the city’s oldest churches is getting the spotlight this summer.
The Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center’s new exhibit, “100 Years at 1201 Main St.,” honors the First United Methodist Church’s historic role in Bastrop’s spiritual and civic life. The display celebrates its legacy with rare photos, documents and artifacts tracing the congregation’s story from 1835 to the present, according to museum officials.
“The men and women who worshipped over the years in Bastrop’s Methodist church provided a spiritual foundation for the Bastrop community,” said Michal Hubbard, a trustee of the Bastrop County Historical Society. “They were also some of the town’s cultural and corporate movers and shakers.”
The Methodist congregation held its first recorded service in 1835 — two decades before the first permanent church was built. At the time, Protestant worship was banned under Mexican rule and services were held on wooden planks laid across barrels, according to the church.
The first sanctuary went up in 1851, later adorned with stained glass windows imported from Italy in 1895. The current brick structure was built in 1925 after lightning struck the belfry.
“Our exhibit highlights people who donated the historic stained glass windows to the church sanctuary. They were early settlers, San Jacinto veterans, county judges and community leaders,” said Robbie Sanders, exhibit curator. “Plus, there’s the fine music that has been part of worship since 1925 — the elegant pipe organ, the choir, the bell choir and even a bluegrass band.”
Both the church and its bell tower have received official historical markers from the city.
The display runs July 5–27 and is included with museum admission.
