Talk:First United Methodist Church (Waco, Texas)

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Christianity: Methodism Low‑importance

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National Register-related or not?

Hi, Evrik, thank you for creating this article. Do you think the church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places? I think it is not listed separately, because I do not see it on National Register of Historic Places listings in McLennan County, Texas page, but maybe it is included as a contributing building in a historic district? If it is NRHP-listed, either way, there are some tools available which could help in development here, and there is an NRHP infobox which could help in presentation. If it is not, then the article should probably be edited to drop the National Register mentions it makes. Anyhow, thanks for contributing! Ping me or post at my Talk page if you reply and i seem not to notice. --Doncram (talk) 21:00, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

@Doncram: I was told that one of the churches building was, but can't verify it. Feel free to strip that out. --evrik ^(talk) 21:02, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Hi. Well I wonder if its Cobbs Drive address, or address of one of its former locations, is located within Waco Downtown Historic District (currently a redlink). National Register nomination document should say. That doc is not available at expected URL at National Park Service, but would be available from the state of Texas per instructions written out at wp:NRHPHELPTX. --Doncram (talk) 21:15, 25 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

To follow up, @Evrik:, the NRHP document found that way is the following, in form of an inline reference

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References

^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Waco Downtown Historic District" (PDF). Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved October 25, 2019. {{TexasHistoricalCommissionNote}} Includes many historic photos and 29 photos from 2011.

There are nine hits on "Methodist" within that, including that the district includes an Austin Avenue United Methodist Church (Property #119), that that church is big and dates from 1925 and is Gothic Revival in style, was designed by R.H. Hunt and had additions in 1944 and 1956, and there's a photo of "the present Methodist church" on page 111. There's a detailed map of the historic district on page 102 of the PDF. Which should allow determination of whether the First United Methodist church is included or not, if we have an address of it. --Doncram (talk) 04:00, 29 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Okay after consulting Google maps and Google Streetview, it is clear that the church now at 4901 Cobbs Drive is far away from the district, which runs only about a dozen blocks from the Brazos River. The 4901 Cobbs Drive church looks modern, but has a steeple (from Streetview) that looks exactly like the church on page 111, in fact it seems it really must be that church, with the highest steeple in Waco. Why is that church building covered in the NRHP document about the Waco Downtown Historic District? I don't understand. Austin Avenue runs along the center of the historic district though, and the Austin Avenue church is included in the district, so it is NRHP-listed. The modern church seems not to be listed. What is this article about? The current modern church alone, or all of the congregation's history, including the part of it which was the Austin Avenue church? I am not sure if there should be a section and more coverage about the Austin Avenue church, which could include an NRHP infobox. Or if that should be in a section in a new article about the historic district, or in a separate, linked article on that church alone. --Doncram (talk) 04:13, 29 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

The original church has been torn down. The new site is a different building. We can strip the NRHP references off for now. --evrik ^(talk) 17:29, 30 October 2019 (UTC)[reply]

[nrhpdoc-1] "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Waco Downtown Historic District" (PDF). Texas Historical Commission. Retrieved October 25, 2019. {{TexasHistoricalCommissionNote}} Includes many historic photos and 29 photos from 2011.

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