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According to local oral tradition, Riverside Methodist Episcopal Church, South, began in March 1888, when the Rev. C.F. Vance and ten people held Sunday School in an abandoned saloon at E. First and Sylvania Streets. After organizing a congregation,the members bought land at the corner of E. First and Ross Avenue (now Retta) in 1893 and built a frame sanctuary. In its early years, the congregation was served by visiting ministers and by students at Polytechnic College (now Texas Wesleyan University). The church building was moved to the southeast corner of Noble Street and Frey Avenue (now Riverside Drive) in 1907. It continued in use until 1925, when it was replaced by a basement for a new structure. The name of the church was changed in 1924 to Sylvania Heights Methodist Episcopal Church, South, but in 1935 in reverted to its original name when Frey Avenue was renamed Riverside Drive. A sanctuary was completed over the 1925 basement in 1937, and a new facility was built on adjacent lots in 1951. Highway construction and changing neighborhood dynamics led to the Church's relocation to this site in 1982. After a denominational name change in 1968, it became known as Riverside United Methodist Church. |
