Mt. Zion Churches and Cemetery

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's what happened out here at Mt. Zion. Before Hopkins County even had a name on a map, before 1846 had finished writing itself into the calendar, a Methodist Episcopal Church was already organized on this very ground.

That's not a small thing. That is people planting roots before the soil had an official deed from the state of Texas. Then, three years on, in 1849, a second congregation took shape right alongside it.

Harmony Cumberland Presbyterian Church, organized with thirteen members by the Reverend Anthony Travelstead. Thirteen. Not a hundred, not fifty.

Thirteen people who decided that was enough to begin. Now, for years, these two congregations did what frontier people do. They made do.

They gathered in oak groves, under brush arbors, in each other's homes. The sky was the ceiling and the creek was probably the clock. But in 1861, something changed.

The two congregations, Methodist and Presbyterian, came together and built a church edifice. Jointly. Shared lumber, shared labor, shared ground.

The site itself was given by two men: David Findley and Nicholas Harlow. That is generosity made permanent. Then, in 1904, more land came in from J.

A. Rains and Chas. E.

Brown, and the place kept growing. Along the way, in 1901, Harmony Cumberland Presbyterian Church was renamed. It became Mt.

Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and here is the part worth holding onto: it continues to function. The Methodists moved away in 1914, and that chapter closed. But the Cumberland Presbyterians, those thirteen members who started with a reverend and a conviction, they are still here.

Thirteen became a congregation. A congregation became a church. And the church outlasted the county's youth, two names, and more than a few Texas storms.

What the marker says

Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church organized here before creation of Hopkins County, 1846. Also at Mt. Zion, 1849, Harmony Cumberland Presbyterian Church was organized with 13 members, by the Rev. Anthony Travelstead. After years of worship in oak groves, brush arbors and homes, church edifice was built jointly 1861. Site given by David Findley, Nicholas Harlow. More land given 1904 by J. A. Rains, Chas. E. Brown. In 1901 Harmony Cumberland Presbyterian Church became Mt. Zion Cumberland Presbyterian Church; continues to function. Methodist moved away in 1914.