Arkansas City Gospel Hall, KS

Arkansas City Gospel Hall was an open brethren meeting thought to have met in Frederick Thompson Horton's home 1889-1938, as well as at 118 N. Summit. See his bio for details on his life. In short, Fred became a Christian in 1882 due to the influence of Scottish evangelists John Smith and Charles W. Ross, and was employed as a dispatcher for the St. Joseph railway, and was promoted to assistant to the chief dispatcher of the Oklahoma division of the Santa Fe railway in 1889, which led him to Arkansas City.

Either that year or in 1897, Fred constructed a Bible verse two miles north of Arkansas City on a bluff, "Christ Died For The Ungodly" in stone lettering that was 476 feet long and 18 feet high, for the benefit of passenger trains driving nearby. The railway auxiliary encased it in concrete towards the end of Fred's life, and it is maintained today by several Christian groups, as well as the local Boy Scout chapter.

Locations

• home of Fred Horton
  • 324 N. A Street +1898-1938+
  • 415 N. B Street +1904+

• 118 N. Summit St. +1901-1903+

Correspondent

• Frederick Thompson Horton 1889-1938 (b. 1860 Galesburg, IL - d. 1938 Ark City, KS)

News

1900's

• ACDT 1901-2-9: "Gospel meetings at hall, 118 North Summit street, beginning Sunday evening, February 10, and continuing (D.V.) through the week. Come! Bring your Bibles and prove what you hear."
• ACDT 1901-12-14: "Gospel services tonight and Sunday night at the gospel hall, 118 North Summit street. Subject, "Christ Died for the Ungodly". Preaching at 7:30 p.m. All are invited."
• ACDT 1902-12-16: "Special gospel services at the Gospel hall, 118 North Summit street, beginning tonight and continuing through the week. Preaching at 7:30 p.m. by T.C. Bush, of Waxahachie, Tex. All are invited."
• ACDN 1903-9-5: "Mr. W.J. McClure, of Los Angeles, Cal., will preach the gospel in the Gospel hall, 118 North Summit street. All are cordially invited to come. Meeting at 8 p.m. Sunday."

Sources

• Ancestry.com
• 1904 Address Book of Some Assemblies, published in England
• Newspapers.com
  • Arkansas City Daily Traveler
    • 1901-2-9; 1901-12-14; 1902-12-16
  • Arkansas City Daily News
    • 1903-9-5