According to oral history, this congregation began in 1846 or 1847, when thirteen people met in the home of Peters' colonists Joseph and Elizabeth Russell to organize a Methodist church, assisted by local preacher James A. Smith, who lived near Dallas. The group met at the Russell home until the 1850s, then moved to a schoolhouse on upper Spring Creek northwest of the original Plano townsite. After Plano was incorporated in 1873, one year after the Houston & Texas Central Railroad built a line through the area, the Methodists moved to the new town in 1874. The congregation became a full station of the Methodist Church in 1888, with the Rev. D.J. Martin as its first full-time pastor. In 1894 it bought land at present 16th and K Streets and completed a new building in 1895, which served the members until 1968, when a larger facility was built at this site. Throughout its history, the church served the community through worship, education, and outreach programs and maintained strong support for domestic and foreign missionary work. In 2002 the First United Methodist Church moved to a new location at 3160 East Spring Creek Parkway for greater visibility and congregational growth.