MCCULLOUGH AVENUE
The first Protestant church services in San Antonio were held by Presbyterian missionary John McCullough (1805–1870) and Methodist missionary John W. DeVilbiss in 1844. A bronze plaque marks the location on what is now the corner of West Commerce and Soledad streets, where the river bypass flows under Commerce Street. In 1845 McCullough accepted an assignment from the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions (Texas was not yet part of the United States) and returned to San Antonio. In 1846 he organized First Presbyterian Church and opened a day school for Mexican children, laying the foundation for the first free school system in the city. Life then was tough for a man of the cloth. There was at least one attempt on his life, prompting McCullough to leave the city in 1849 and not come back.
