DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Way back in the mid-1880s, out in Grayson County, a congregation took shape — and it didn't start in any grand stone sanctuary. No sir.
It grew out of brush arbor meetings at a place called Cedar Campground, near Whitemound. Now if you've never been to a brush arbor meeting, picture folks gathered under a canopy of cut branches, sky peeking through the gaps, voices carrying out across the Texas prairie. That's where this story begins.
They eventually built themselves a proper church building right there at Whitemound — modest, sure, but theirs. Then in 1906, they picked the whole thing up and moved it to Tom Bean. And that building served them well enough, until 1924, when it burned.
So now this congregation is standing in Tom Bean with no building at all. What do you do? Well, the Methodists did what neighbors do — they went next door, so to speak, and worshiped in the Presbyterian church.
And then, as if this story needed one more turn, that Presbyterian church was destroyed by a tornado a short time later. Two buildings gone. One congregation still standing.
A new edifice was built, and here's the part that'll make you appreciate a good compromise — it served both denominations, Methodist and Presbyterian together under the same roof, all the way until 1972. By 1974, the sanctuary had been moved to its present location, and when they built out the facility, they made sure to preserve something that meant a great deal — the heritage of the old Perrin Air Force Base Chapel, added right into the building. From a brush arbor near Whitemound to a chapel with Air Force roots, this congregation has been moved, burned out, blown out, and still standing.
Some things just don't quit.
What the marker says
This congregation was organized in the mid-1880s, growing out of brush arbor meetings at the Cedar Campground near Whitemound. The original church building at Whitemound was moved, in 1906, to Tom Bean, where it burned in 1924. Methodists worshiped in the Presbyterian church until it was destroyed by a tornado a short time later. A new edifice was built, serving both denominations until 1972. In 1974, the sanctuary was moved here, and the heritage of the old Perrin Air Force Base Chapel was preserved when it was added to the facility.