DUANE
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Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Coryell County, in a little place called Jonesboro, there's a congregation with roots that go all the way back to the late 1860s. Now think about that for a moment.
The dust of the Civil War had barely settled, settlers were just finding their footing in this corner of Texas, and already folks were gathering together for something bigger than themselves. They didn't have a proper church building to speak of, so they made do with what they had, a combination church-school Masonic Lodge building, one structure pulling triple duty for the community. That right there tells you something about those early Jonesboro settlers.
Practical people. Faithful people. Then came 1871, and things got a little more official.
W. L. Jones made a donation that year, the congregation was formally organized, and they completed their very first dedicated building, all in the same year.
That's the kind of momentum that builds something lasting. Of course, one building was never going to be the end of the story. The membership kept growing, kept changing, and a succession of structures rose up over the years to meet those needs.
And the congregation didn't just grow from within. Methodist churches from the nearby communities of Ames, Pancake, and Turnersville all merged with the Jonesboro Church over time, neighbors folding into neighbors, until what started as settlers huddled together in a borrowed building became something that outlasted them all.
What the marker says
This congregation traces its history to the late 1860s, when early settlers of Jonesboro met together in a combination church-school Masonic Lodge building for worship services. W. L. Jones donated in 1871, and the congregation was formally organized that year. Their first building, completed in 1871, was replaced by a succession of structures over the years to meet the needs of the membership. Methodist congregations in the nearby communities of Ames, Pancake, and Turnersville have merged with the Jonesboro Church.