Oak Lawn Methodist Episcopal Church, South - Dallas, TX
N 32° 48.522 W 096° 48.516
14S E 705172 N 3632205
The Oak Lawn United Methodist Church is at 3014 Oak Lawn Ave, Dallas, TX, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.
Waymark Code: WM183V2
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 05/24/2023
Views: 0
A 1974 Texas Historical Marker provides some history, with a bit of irony about "changes in national organization":
An Oak Lawn settler, the Rev. Marcus H. Cullum (1822-85), preached in a grove on Turtle Creek until citizens built a school-church house here on site given by the Dickason-Sale family. At opening of that building, Sept. 20, 1874, the Rev. M.H. Cullum founded the Oak Lawn Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A larger building with spires was erected in 1889. The present structure was built 1911-15, and enlarged in 1928 and 1950. Church name has been altered by changes in national organization. Membership has grown from 20 in 1874 to more than 2,000.
The church is a Dallas Landmark, and it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The National Register's Nomination Form (see Secondary Website 1) notes its age, now well over a century old, as a survivor in an area dominated by modern office space and shopping, and a link to the area's past. Also, it describes its Late Gothic Revival Architecture:
The sanctuary, the oldest extant structure on the grounds, was built in stages from 1911 to 1915, as funds were available. It features Late Gothic Revival detailing, which is characterized by the frequent use of pointed-arch motifs, buttresses and traceries. The church, as originally built, utilized a variation of the Greek-cross plan with multi-story towers filling the bays at the east and north corners of the cross. Subsequent additions onto the rear, however, have modified the original configuration. The structure is two stories in height and has a full basement. It utilizes masonry construction with load-bearing walls, according to Sanborn Co. maps. The dark-brown brick and mortar used in the construction contrasts to the light-colored terra cotta detailing used throughout the building's exterior. Intersecting gables with a composition roof caps the original structure, while the additions have flat roofs.
There are two additions, from 1928-29 and 1950, which provided needed space to the church, while retaining characteristics consistent with the sanctuary's architecture.