Methodist worship in this area began before Falls County or the city of Marlin existed, with the Rev. John W. DeVilbiss first sent in 1842 and other circuit riders following until the Rev. Charles Brown became the Marlin congregation’s full-time pastor in 1874. In 1851 Methodists chose a lot for a church in the new town of Marlin, and adjoining lots at Fannin and Williams Streets were added in 1879 and 1881. In 1909, during the pastorate of the Rev. I.F. Betts, the congregation purchased this site, where the present building was completed in 1910. It was built with bricks made from Brazos River bottom red clay, featured painted and stained glass windows imported from Italy, and included a bell once used on a southern plantation. The congregation developed a long tradition of Christian service, holding its first recorded revival in 1865, twice hosting the Texas Annual Conference of Methodist Churches, supporting mission work at home and abroad through its women’s groups, seeing Miss Maggie Rogers serve as a missionary in China from 1904 to 1943, and sending five members into the ministry.