DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and friend, this one's worth the telling. Way out in Scurry County, in the year 1898, eight charter member families sat down together and decided they were going to have themselves a church. You've got the Bazes, the Dodsons, the Germans, the Stanfields, the Wassons, the Wilmeths — Messrs. and Mmes., as they say — plus Mlles.
Clare Dodson and Lola Morris, and Mrs. Nannie German. Eight families, one conviction, and a whole lot of West Texas in front of them.
That first building went up on Deep Creek, on land that A. C. Wilmeth donated himself.
Now, the shape of that church — this is the part that'll stay with you. It was octagonal. Eight sides.
Out there on the Texas frontier, somebody had an architectural vision. But the congregation, bless them, didn't call it the Octagonal Church or the Eight-Sided Wonder. They called it the Little Round Church.
And I think that tells you everything you need to know about the kind of people these were. Practical. Warm.
Not given to putting on airs. Of course, Deep Creek had something to say about the whole arrangement. After a good rain, some of those members had to wade the creek just to get to services.
Think about that — dressed for Sunday, shoes in hand, creek running cold around their ankles, headed to the Little Round Church. Faith has always had a price of admission. By 1909, the congregation had grown enough that the whole operation had to be removed and remodeled.
They'd outgrown what eight families had built. Then came 1950, and oil. The marker puts it plainly: after the oil discovery, the congregation doubled.
Just like that. And when a congregation doubles, it needs a building to match. So in 1953, the present church was erected.
From eight families wading a creek to a congregation that oil brought together — the Little Round Church had come a long way from Deep Creek.
What the marker says
Organized in 1898 with eight charter member families: Messrs. and Mmes. W. T. Baze, A. D. Dodson, F. M. German, W. B. Stanfield, I. W. Wasson, A. C. Wilmeth; Mlles. Clare Dodson, Lola Morris; and Mrs. Nannie German. First building was erected on deep creek on land donated by A. C. Wilmeth. Some members had to wade creek after rains. The church was octagonal in shape, but known as "Little Round Church." Membership growth, 1909, required removal and remodeling. In 1950, congregation doubled after oil discovery. The present church was erected in 1953. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967