Mount Vernon United Methodist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Mount Vernon United Methodist Church tells it — and it's a story worth every word. Now, the year is 1865, and Houston is a city still figuring out what it's going to be. In that uncertain air, a man named Emanuel Toby — folks called him Uncle Toby, or sometimes Toby Gregg — gathered some friends, took up whatever tools they had, and cut brush along Vine Street near the banks of Buffalo Bayou.

They built an arbor right there, open to the sky, and they began to worship. That right there is where one of the oldest congregations in Houston got its start. Two years on, in 1867, Uncle Toby did something that must have carried the weight of the whole world in it.

He bought that Vine Street site — the very ground where they'd been prayin' — for five dollars. He bought it from a man named Darius Gregg. His ex-master.

Five dollars. On ground he'd already consecrated with his own hands. Also in 1867, a man named Reverend Charles Bryant arrived in Houston.

He'd come from the West Indies and made his way here as a Methodist missionary. When Bryant stepped into what folks were already callin' Uncle Toby's church under the hill, he took stock of what he found: twenty-five probationers and fifty members. A congregation already taking root.

Then watch what happens. By 1871 — just six years after that brush arbor went up — the congregation bought the Vine Street property from Toby himself and erected an original frame chapel. They had a hundred and twenty-two members by then.

Six years. From cut brush to a chapel with over a hundred souls. In 1879 the congregation was renamed Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church.

And in 1901 they moved to this permanent location — the ground where you're standing now, or riding past, depending on how you're taking in this story. The original structure on this site was built mostly through the personal labor of Reverend C. C.

Minnegan. Not contracted out, not handed off — the man worked it himself. The present sanctuary went up in 1935.

The educational unit followed in 1956. And it didn't stop there. This congregation helped establish Brooks Chapel United Methodist Church.

They've provided social services, aided the needy, and produced community leaders for more than a century. What started as a man with a blade clearin' brush on a bayou bank in 1865 — that became a pillar. And some things, once they're built with that kind of intention, just don't come down.

What the marker says

This congregation originated in 1865, and is one of the oldest in Houston. The Rev. Emanuel Toby (also called "Uncle Toby" or Toby Gregg) and friends cut brush, built an arbor on Vine Street near the banks of Buffalo Bayou, and began to worship there. In 1867 Toby bought the Vine Street site for five dollars from his ex-master, Darius Gregg. Also in 1867, the Rev. Charles Bryant, a West Indian, came to Houston as a Methodist missionary. In "Uncle Toby's church under the hill," he found 25 probationers and 50 members. By 1871, when the congregation bought the Vine Street property from Toby and erected its original frame chapel, the church had 122 members. Renamed Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church in 1879, the congregation moved to this permanent location in 1901. This site's original structure was built mostly by the personal labor of the Rev. C. C. Minnegan. The present sanctuary was constructed in 1935; the educational unit, in 1956. This congregation helped establish the Brooks Chapel United Methodist Church, regularly provides many social services, aids the needy, and has produced community leaders for more than a century.