Methodists were among the earliest settlers in Collin County, and thirteen pioneers met at Joseph Russell’s log cabin near present-day Allen on November 15, 1847, to organize a church. Russell’s home stood south of Rowlett Creek near present-day Jupiter Road. Its services became part of the Dallas circuit and were led by traveling ministers. As the congregation grew, it moved three miles west to meet at the Spring Creek School after that building was erected in 1857. When the railroad arrived in 1876, the church was moved several miles away to Plano, while the community it had served was organized as Allen that same year. Local Methodists soon sought to establish a church closer to their own community. Early meetings were likely held in the Allen Schoolhouse, and soon the Baptists allowed the Methodists to worship independently in their church. The first known Allen pastor was Methodist camp preacher and revivalist Rev. George S. Gatewood, who held camp meetings under a brush arbor at Pegues Springs southeast of town. The Methodist Church bought land in 1884, though it is uncertain whether a building was erected there. A second tract at the corner of S. Allen Dr. and McDermott Rd. became the site of a one-room church house built in 1902. After damage in the 1910s, a new building was constructed between 1917 and 1919 and was razed in 1965. The current building on S. Greenville Ave. was built in 1966. The first parsonage, still standing, was built on Butler Street and served until 1960. A notable member of the congregation was Dr. Malcom O. Perry II, one of the surgeons who attended President John F. Kennedy at Parkland Hospital in Dallas on November 22, 1963.