North End Methodist Church

Duane's take

The official marker tells this one, and I'm just the voice carryin' it down the road. Let's go back to 1835, when a man named Henry Millard and the Thomas Huling Company of Jasper County purchased land from Nancy Tevis, wife of the original land owner Noah Tevis, and laid out the town of Beaumont right there in Jefferson County. That town sat and grew at its own pace for decades.

Then came 1901, and the first Spindletop oil discovery changed everything. Beaumont boomed. People poured in.

New neighborhoods pushed out from the center of town, and one of those neighborhoods was the North End. By 1912, folks settling in the North End decided they needed a church. They reached out to Dr.

Walter Johnson of the First Methodist Church, and he came to help them build one. Early May of 1912, a little group gathered to make it happen. J.B.

Gaskin was there. E.H. Spencer was there.

Mrs. L.C. Baker, Mrs.

J.D. Vest, and Mrs. Bill Rayburn, all lending their time and effort alongside Dr.

Johnson. They weren't waiting on a grand building. They held their first services on May 12, 1912, in a shed on the corner of Live Oak and Cable streets.

A shed. But a shed with people in it, and purpose behind it. They called it North End Methodist Church.

The years moved on, the congregation moved too, four times in all before 2004, when the church moved to a new sanctuary on the corner of Major Drive and Folsom Road. That move had a name the congregation gave it themselves: the Move of Faith. Along the way, this church never sat still when the world needed something.

During World War I, members supported the Red Cross by sewing garments for soldiers. In later years, church members built homes for area residents, served hot meals, and collected food for the community. The congregation grew to include a Family Life Center and buildings for youth, scouting, education, and visiting missionaries.

The church was eventually renamed Wesley United Methodist Church, and it carries a motto that's short enough to remember and big enough to mean something: To Know God and Make God Known. From a shed on Live Oak and Cable in May of 1912 to a sanctuary on Major Drive and Folsom Road, with continual membership every year in between. That's not just a church.

That's a community that kept showing up.

What the marker says

(Wesley United Methodist Church) In 1835, Henry Millard and the Thomas Huling Company of Jasper County purchased land from Nancy Tevis, wife of original land owner Noah Tevis, and established the town of Beaumont. The growth of the town boomed after the first Spindletop oil discovery in 1901. In 1912 residents in the newly settled North End built a Methodist church with the help of Dr. Walter Johnson of the First Methodist Church. Those assisting Dr. Johnson in early May 1912 were J.B. Gaskin, E.H. Spencer, Mrs. L.C. Baker, Mrs. J.D. Vest, and Mrs. Bill Rayburn. North End Methodist Church (later renamed Wesley United Methodist Church) held their first services on May 12, 1912 in a shed on the corner of Live Oak and Cable streets. During the intervening years Wesley United Methodist Church moved four times, and in 2004 moved to a new sanctuary on the corner of Major Drive and Folsom Road that would be called the "Move of Faith." Church members have been involved in mission work, disaster relief and community service. During World War I, the church supported the Red Cross by sewing garments for soldiers. Members of Wesley United Methodist Church are involved in community service that includes building homes for area residents, serving hot meals and collecting food for the community. The church has grown and now includes a Family Life Center, Youth, Scouting and Education buildings, and facilities for visiting missionaries. Wesley United Methodist Church has had continual membership since the first services in 1912. Wesley United Methodist Church has been an important part of the community with many members entering the ministry. The church's motto is "To Know God and Make God Known." (2012)