DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna give it to you straight with a little West Texas wind behind it. Way out in Lubbock County, on a stretch of land that didn't amount to much more than a railroad switch in 1911 — an AT&SF line switch, to be exact — a little community called Posey slowly blinked itself into existence. By 1941 it had grown to about seventy souls, which isn't a crowd by anyone's measure, but out here on the South Plains, seventy neighbors is a civilization.
Now, what drew a lot of those people to this particular patch of ground? Railroad advertising. Speculator promotion.
Words on paper promising something worth the trip. And for a good number of German immigrants, that was enough. They came, they stayed, and they did what communities do when they mean to last — they organized a church.
The congregation that would become Immanuel Lutheran Church first formed in the nearby town of Slaton, back in 1915. And it grew. Fast.
Pretty soon private homes couldn't hold the faithful anymore, and the leaders made a decision: Posey needed a proper house of worship. On September 26, 1920, Immanuel Lutheran Church was dedicated. Now that's the kind of date a community carves into its memory — a late September Sunday out on the plains with a brand new church standing where there hadn't been one before.
The congregation kept growing, and by the next decade that original chapel was already feeling tight at the seams. So they rebuilt it. Dedicated again on April 16, 1939.
All through those years and into the forties, services were held in both German and English — two languages sharing the same pews, the same hymns, the same West Texas light coming through those gothic-arched windows. Then came the fifties and sixties, and the work of a living congregation never really stops. Remodeled interiors.
A remodeled parsonage. A new well. An education building.
If you were to walk up to that church today, here's what you'd see: a main hall, a tower, and an educational building all connected by a covered walkway. The chapel itself is wood frame and stucco, with entryways, doors, and windows all framed by gothic archways — a little bit of the Old World quietly planted in the Texas panhandle. The roof used to be shingled; now it's covered in sheet metal.
The ends and façade are gabled, and along the edges of the roof runs a cast stone parapet. That tower has one too, along with gothic arched windows and gabled windows climbing toward the top — windows that suggest, just suggest, the tower may once have called folks to worship with a bell. The educational building is simpler, gabled, no-nonsense.
And in 2015, the congregation gathered to mark a hundred years since that first meeting in Slaton. A hundred years from a railroad switch and a promise on a piece of advertising paper to a centennial celebration. Out in Posey, seventy souls were more than enough to build something that lasted.
What the marker says
The Posey Community grew from a 1911 railroad switch on the AT&SF line to a settlement of about 70 in 1941. One of its earliest organizations was the Immanuel Lutheran Church, composed largely of German immigrants lured by railroad advertising and speculator promotion. The congregation formed in the nearby town of Slaton in 1915. Church membership grew quickly and when it could no longer meet in private homes, leaders decided to build a church in Posey. Immanuel Lutheran Church was dedicated on September 26, 1920. As the surrounding area grew, so did the church. By the next decade, the chapel was too small and was rebuilt and dedicated on April 16, 1939. Church services were held in German and English until the 1940s. The 1950s and 1960s saw more renovations made, including remodeled interiors, a remodeled parsonage, a new well and an education building. The church building consists of the main hall, a tower and an adjacent educational building connected by a covered walkway. The chapel is wood frame and stucco with the entryways, doors and windows framed by gothic archways. The roof, formerly shingled, is now covered in sheet metal and the ends and façade are gabled. Along the edges of the roof is a cast stone parapet. The tower is also covered with a cast stone parapet and includes many gothic arched windows and gabled windows toward the top, suggesting a possible former bell tower function. The educational building is a simple gabled structure. The congregation celebrated its centennial in 2015.