Oakhurst Center Hill Church and Cemetery

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Oakhurst Center Hill Church and Cemetery in San Jacinto County. Now settle in, because this one's been a long time growin'. We're talking about a piece of ground in an area settled as far back as the 1830s, and from the very beginning, something kept drawing people back to this spot.

The first building to stand here was a log cabin, known as Hibbetts Church. Just picture it, rough-hewn timber, a clearing in the trees, and folks from every stripe of faith walking through that same door. And that right there is the thing about this place.

It never belonged to just one congregation. All faiths used that early building, and so it came to carry a name that fit what it actually was. They called it Union Center.

Later, it would go by Center Hill. Five successive buildings have stood on this site across the years, each one a community worship center in its turn, rising up where the last one left off. Now here's a detail that might surprise you.

For all those years, all that gathering and worshipping and community-building, the site was actually privately owned. It wasn't until September 3rd, 1882, that a man named Russell Roark deeded a five-acre cemetery and church site to the Center Hill community. Five acres, made official, made permanent.

Then in the 1890s, a Baptist group stepped forward and assumed care of both the cemetery and the church. And if you want a sign that a place has truly taken root in the hearts of the people around it, consider this. In 1938, they instituted the Annual Homecoming, held every fourth Sunday in June.

A community that keeps showing up, year after year, to the same patch of ground their people have gathered on since the 1830s. That's not just a church. That's a landmark.

What the marker says

In area settled by 1830s, five successive buildings -- the first a log cabin, Hibbetts Church -- have stood here as community worship centers. Since all faiths used early building, it came to be called "Union Center," then "Center Hill." Site was actually privately owned until Sept. 3, 1882, when Russell Roark deeded 5-acre cemetery and church site to Center Hill community. In the 1890s, a Baptist group assumed care of cemetery and church. In 1938, Annual Homecoming (fourth Sunday in June) was instituted.