First United Methodist Church - Temple Commercial Historic District -Temple, TX - NRHP Historic Districts - Contributing Buildings on Waymarking.com

"The First United Methodist Church of Temple, at 102 N. 2nd Street Lot 4, Block 6, of the original townsite for Temple is the second church building constructed on this site. The first church building, built ca. 1900, was destroyed by a 1911 fire. The present Romanesque Revival building, begun in 1912, was finished in 1914. The original architects were Sanguinet & Staats of Fort Worth. H. D. McCoy of Cleburne, Texas, undertook the building contract for a bid of $50,000.

Romanesque Revival was popular during the period and is also referred to as Byzantine Revival. The three-story main building is of brown brick with a ceramic tile roof and has an attached domed sanctuary. There are 52 rooms, 3 fireplaces, and 4 outside stairways that lead to the main sanctuary. The church sanctuary seats 500 downstairs and 250 in the full balcony. Downstairs classrooms were converted to office spaces, a fellowship hall, and kitchen in 1954. A two-story brick educational building is attached at the northern portion of the block. The Temple firm of Rucker & Chamlee performed the remodel and addition. In 1967 art glass windows were installed. The church building was designated as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1979 (First United Methodist Church of Temple State Marker Files).

The church and educational buildings of the First United Methodist Church are significant as an architect-designed church in Temple. The church is an excellent example of the Romanesque Revival style. The two-story brick addition to the north of the church and its offices is a good example o f post-World War II modernism. The church is wedged between the northern border of the business district and a neighborhood. It retains integrity of location, design, workmanship, materials, setting, feeling, and association."