The congregation was organized by missionaries in the 1840s, and met in a log cabin with its corners marked by four pecan trees. After a tornado destroyed the cabin, the current structure was built in 1859. Wheatland UMC was constructed with hand-quarried local limestone and lumber hauled from Louisiana in ox-drawn wagons. When the church expanded in 1912, it became the first “country” church in the area to have “pictured glass” windows. The church became a Texas Historic Landmark in 1965. It hosts two other congregations, a small shelter for unhoused people, and a laundry center for nearby students. 

In 2019, Wheatland UMC was one of several faith communities in the area to be vandalized by arson, robbery, and graffiti. The arson incident prompted the Dallas Fire Marshall to require that the church add a fire hookup and prevention system within 90 days, an unanticipated expense. 

An Intervention Fund grant of $25,000 awarded in 2019 supported the installation of a fire hydrant and sprinkler system so that Wheatland UMC could meet the Fire Marshall’s requirements and remain open to the congregation and the public.