Elm Grove Union Church

Duane's take

Now, this one comes straight from the official marker, and I'm just the one bringin' it to you on the road. Pull up a chair, figuratively speakin', because Elm Grove Union Church in Van Zandt County has been holdin' things together longer than most folks around here can remember. It all traces back to the early 1870s.

Out on land owned by an early settler named Anthony Gray Hyde, a log structure went up in 1875. One building doing three jobs at once: church, school, and community gathering place. They called it Hyde Schoolhouse, and for the better part of a decade it was the beating heart of that little corner of the world.

Then came 1882, and Hyde Schoolhouse gave way to a larger wooden building. Progress, they called it. But the story doesn't stop there.

One year later, the school itself was moved to a new location near that same site and given a new name: Elm Grove. And in 1885, it became a public free school, opened up to serve the residents of the Roddy community, a place named for a pioneer by the name of Steven Goven Roddy. Now, the church and school had been sharing the same walls for a good long while, the way neighbors share a fence line.

But in 1900, a man named T. H. Hardin and his wife Minerva made a decision that changed things.

They gave the property to the community church. A new sanctuary went up, and right about then, the school and the church finally parted ways under the same roof. Each went its own direction, the way grown children do.

The congregation built again in 1922, a new church building rising up on that same ground. But here is where the story takes a hard turn. In 1941, that building was destroyed by fire.

They built again. Because that is what this community does. And through all of it, every log and plank and rebuilt wall, Elm Grove has been something rare: a Union Church.

Multi-denominational from the very start. Three congregations sharing one building and running a cooperative Sunday School together. Elm Grove Presbyterian, organized in 1872.

Elm Grove Methodist, organized in 1893. And Elm Grove Missionary Baptist, organized in 1897. Three congregations, one roof, and the better part of a century and a half of figurin' out how to make that work.

Somewhere along the way, they stopped callin' it a compromise and started callin' it home.

What the marker says

This community church traces its history to the early 1870s. A log structure used as a church, school, and community gathering place was built on land owned by early settler Anthony Gray Hyde in 1875. Called Hyde Schoolhouse, it served the community until 1882, when it was replaced by a larger wooden building. One year later the school was moved to a new location near this site and renamed Elm Grove. The school became a public free school in 1885 to serve residents in the Roddy community (named for pioneer Steven Goven Roddy). After this property was given to the community church in 1900 by T. H. and Minerva Hardin, a new sanctuary was built. At that time the school and church ceased sharing the same building. A new church building erected in 1922 was replaced after it was destroyed by fire in 1941. Since its beginning, this has been a multi-denominational Union Church. The three congregations which share use of the building and operate a cooperative Sunday School program include Elm Grove Presbyterian, organized in 1872; Elm Grove Methodist, organized in 1893; and Elm Grove Missionary Baptist, organized in 1897. (1989)