Cove Springs United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of the story as it comes down from the official marker, right there in Cherokee County. Now settle in, because this one goes back a ways. December of 1856, out in a place called Sand Hill, a congregation gathered and decided to make something official.

They called it the Sand Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and they meant business. Trustees went out and purchased a parcel of land right there at Sand Hill, and for several years the congregation kept meeting on that very spot. But a church with a little life in it rarely stays still for long.

In 1879, they picked up and moved about one mile south to a ten-acre site known as Camp Ground. Ten acres. Room enough to breathe, room enough to build.

And build they did. A frame sanctuary went up, which took care of the cooler months just fine. But anybody who has spent a Texas summer knows that a frame building in August is its own particular kind of test.

So they built a brush arbor alongside it, open to whatever breeze the Lord saw fit to send, and that's where they held their worship services during the hot summer months. Now here is the part that makes you stop and think. That one-room church wasn't just a church.

It was also a community school. Children in all grades, every one of them, learning under the instruction of a single teacher inside those same four walls. One room, all grades, one teacher.

The whole community's future, right there together. Time kept moving, as time does, and in 1911 the congregation moved again, this time to this very location. The land was purchased for twenty-five dollars, and another frame sanctuary was built.

That building served a flourishing congregation all the way until 1955. Then, in March of that year, construction began on a new brick building. Something more permanent, something that would last.

At the groundbreaking ceremony stood Mrs. John F. Rountree, a charter member of the old Camp Ground congregation.

Think about what that means. A woman who had been there from the Camp Ground days, standing in the dirt at the start of something new. The years between those two moments is a story all by itself.

Now, the marker is careful to point something out, and it is worth your attention. Many rural churches in Texas did not survive the hard economic times over the years. Many of them went quiet, boards nailed over the doors, the congregation scattered.

Not this one. Begun in December of 1856, this congregation has been in continuous operation for over a hundred and thirty years and has remained an active, integral part of the community. Sand Hill to Camp Ground to right here.

One church, still standing, still going. Some things, if they're built right from the beginning, just don't quit.

What the marker says

Begun in December 1856 as the Sand Hill Methodist Episcopal Church, South, this church has been in continuous operation for over 130 years. A parcel of land was purchased at Sand Hill by church trustees, and the congregation continued meeting at that location for several years. In 1879 the church moved to a ten-acre site known as "Camp Ground" about one mile south of this site. A frame sanctuary was soon erected, and a brush arbor was built for worship services during the hot summer months. The one-room church also served as a community school, where children in all grades received instruction from one teacher. In 1911 the church moved to this location. The land was purchased for $25, and another frame sanctuary was built, which served the flourishing congregation until 1955. Construction of a new brick building began in March 1955, with Mrs. John F. Rountree, a charter member of the "Camp Ground", participating in the groundbreaking ceremony. While many rural churches in Texas did not survive hard economic times over the years, this congregation has remained active and continues to be an integral part of the community.