Brushy Mound

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Delta County, there's a little place called Brushy Mound, and the name alone ought to tell you something about what folks found when they first settled in. Dogwood brush, covering the area, thick enough to give the whole mound its character and its name.

Community grew up around a Methodist church built in 1891, and that church became the heart of things, the kind of place a small Texas settlement organizes its whole life around. Then comes the school. 1885, the Brushy Mound School was founded, and somebody had to stand up front on that first day and face whatever collection of fidgety children the community could produce. That somebody was Miss Mollie Wood, the first teacher.

Now, history doesn't always hold onto the names it should, but it held onto hers, and good. The years kept moving, the way they do. The present church went up in 1917, a new building to carry the same old congregation forward.

And the school, that school Miss Mollie Wood helped start back in 1885, kept serving Brushy Mound until 1949, when it was consolidated with the East Delta Independent District. The dogwood brush may have thinned out over the decades, but the name, and the story, stuck right where they landed.

What the marker says

Community surrounding a Methodist church built 1891. Named for dogwood brush then covering area. In 1885 the Brushy Mound School was founded. Miss Mollie Wood was first teacher. Present church was built in 1917. The school was consolidated with East Delta Independent District in 1949. (1968)