The White Rocker newspaper from Sept. 18, 1958. Photo by Renee Umsted.
The congregation that founded Garland Road Church of Christ started meeting in 1855.
That’s according to an old story published in The White Rocker, a bygone Dallas newspaper.
If the name of the church sounds familiar, it might be because we brought it up in our coverage of the rezone of Shoreline City Church, which was located at the Garland Road Church of Christ site. Last year, the Dallas City Council approved the rezone, making way for a new residential development.
When the Advocate began covering the rezone process, we gave a brief history of the church, including the fact that the church was originally located Downtown. At the time, it was called the Pearl and Bryan Church of Christ, and when it moved to Garland Road in 1955, it became known as Garland Road Church of Christ.
According to the White Rocker article, published Sept. 18, 1958, the church completed that year a new wing and educational building, valued at $500,000. The addition included more than 40 classrooms, a nursery, library, offices, a room for visual aids, a chapel and an auditorium with a capacity of 1,000 people.
The church was also at the time working to build a home on Yorkmont Circle for the minister.
However, the congregation had been active long before it moved to East Dallas. In 1867, a small building was constructed on Carondelet Street, which was later renamed Ross Avenue. This was the first church building to be constructed in the city of Dallas, the newspaper reported.
And the congregation was thought to have held the first baptismal service in Dallas — in the Trinity River, to be precise.
For more history, find additional White Rocker archives at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library.
