Ebenezer Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same way. Way out in Jasper County, area pioneers came together in 1861 and organized a church. Now, nobody was putting down a fancy steeple right off the bat.

They had circuit-riding ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, swinging through on horseback, keeping the faith alive across the backcountry. William P. M. and Mary Ann Dean gave up the land, and on that ground went up a small log building, humble as they come, shared by both Methodist and Baptist congregations.

Community folks worshipping under the same roof. That's the kind of arrangement the frontier demanded. Then fire came calling in the early 1890s, and that little log church was gone.

So they built another wooden structure. And, well, fire came calling again. Two buildings, same fate.

At that point, you might figure the third time had better be different, and it was, at least for a while. The third building went up, and this one pulled double duty as both a church and a school, serving the community in the way only a building that means something truly can. It stood until 1943, when it was razed.

The very next year, 1944, a new frame building was built in its place. That fourth structure carried on the work, and the congregation kept going, kept gathering. But after more than a hundred years of serving the area, the Methodist Church was deactivated in 1965.

Four buildings, one fire after another, pioneers who kept rebuilding anyway, and a congregation that outlasted all of it, right up until it didn't. That's Ebenezer Methodist Church, and some stories don't need a happy ending to be worth telling.

What the marker says

Area pioneers organized a church in 1861 which was served by circuit-riding ministers of the Methodist Episcopal church, South. A small log building, used by Methodist and Baptist congregations, was erected on land given by William P. M. and Mary Ann Dean. Destroyed by fire in the early 1890s, it was replaced by another wooden structure which also burned. A third building was erected which served as a church and school. It was razed in 1943, and in 1944 a new frame building was built. After serving the area for over 100 years, the Methodist Church was deactivated in 1965. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986