Acton Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. The settlement that would become Acton went by a different name at the start: Comanche Peak Post Office, if you can believe it, and it took root in the early 1850s out here in Hood County. By 1855, a handful of local congregations, the Methodist among them, decided there was no sense in building separate houses of worship when you could pool your faith and share one sanctuary down on Walnut Creek.

That union church was the seed of everything that followed. Then, come 1868, the gathered congregations moved their services into the Masonic Lodge Hall, which tells you something about the practical spirit of frontier Texas; you worship where there's a roof and four walls. By 1873, the Methodist congregation had grown confident enough in its own identity that it hosted the Methodist Church district conference right here.

That's not a small thing. You don't host the district conference unless people know your name. The very next year, 1874, church trustees went out and purchased four and four-tenths acres from a pair of men named V.S.

Anglin and G.W. Patton. The deed was drawn up for church, school, and burial purposes: the three great anchors of any community that intends to last.

And last they did. The congregation built its first proper sanctuary in 1899, then added a tabernacle in 1908, and kept on building as the years and the membership demanded. The name shifted with the times (Methodist Church in 1939, Acton United Methodist Church in 1968) but the roots held.

Now here's where the story takes a turn nobody quite saw coming. In 1966, construction of the nearby de Cordova Bend Reservoir brought prosperity back to this stretch of Hood County, and people followed the prosperity. The congregation that had stood at 106 members in 1973 had climbed all the way to 1,196 by 1993.

From 106 to nearly twelve hundred souls, in twenty years. That, friend, is what you call a congregation that kept the door open at exactly the right moment.

What the marker says

Settlement of Acton, originally known as Comanche Peak Post Office, began in the early 1850's. By 1855 several local churches, including the Methodist congregation which gave rise to this church, formed a union church and shared a sanctuary on nearby Walnut Creek. Beginning in 1868 union church services were held in the Masonic Lodge Hall. Acton Methodist was well established by 1873, the year it hosted the Methodist Church district conference. In 1874 church trustees purchased 4.4 acres here from V.S. Anglin and G.W. Patton for church, school, and burial purposes. The congregation built its first sanctuary in 1899 and a tabernacle in 1908. Other facilities, built over the years, supported a growing congregation and housed fellowship and sunday school programs. The name of the congregation was changed to the Methodist Church in 1939 and to Acton United Methodist Church in 1968. Construction of the nearby de Cordova Bend Reservoir in 1966 restored prosperity to this area and resulted in a steady expansion of the Acton Methodist congregation; membership in the church grew from 106 in 1973 to 1196 in 1993. The church continues to serve the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs and activities. (1994)