Shady Grove Community

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the words on the official marker for Shady Grove Community out in Burnet County. Every word of it. Now, picture the 1850s and 60s.

Families are making their way onto farm and ranch land along the Middle Gabriel river, putting down roots in that quiet stretch of central Texas where two important roads happened to cross. The Old Austin-Lampasas road and the Burnet-Belton road met right here. Two roads, two directions, one crossroads.

That kind of geography tends to collect people. And collect people it did. By 1877, a man named Alexander M.

Barton had deeded six acres, and that land became the site of a schoolhouse, a church, and a cemetery. The whole sweep of a community's life, right there on six acres. At first, folks called the place Russell Gabriel.

Then the Cumberland Presbyterian Church organized and met in the school building in 1878, and somewhere around that time the name shifted. The schoolhouse sat in a grove of live oak trees, and so the place became known simply as Grove. There's something honest about that.

You name a thing what it is. And Grove grew. The settlement got itself a cotton gin and corn mill.

A general store. A blacksmith shop. A doctor.

And a Masonic Lodge. That's not a crossroads anymore. That's a community.

In 1882, the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist congregations came together and built a Union Arbor for camp meetings and revivals. Three different denominations sharing one roof, or near enough to one. That tells you something about the spirit of the place.

Now, for a few months in 1902, Grove had a post office. Just a few months. And here is where the story takes a wry little turn.

There was already another Shady Grove in Texas, so the postal authorities required a different name. The name they landed on was Tamega. And a general store by that name operated here for fifty years.

Fifty years. The post office lasted a few months. The store lasted fifty years.

You figure out which one mattered more to the people living there. The Presbyterian fellowship built this church structure first, and then in 1905 they built the tabernacle. The school ran on until 1942, when it consolidated with Bertram.

The Presbyterian congregation held on until 1966, when it too merged with Bertram, and this property became a community center and homecoming site. Families who settled along the Middle Gabriel in the 1850s and 60s probably never imagined a Union Arbor, a store named Tamega, a brief and stubborn post office, or a tabernacle that would still be standing more than a century on. But that is how a crossroads becomes a community, and how a community, even after the school and the congregation have moved on, keeps calling people back home.

What the marker says

In the 1850s and 60s families settled on this farm and ranch land along the Middle Gabriel river. The Old Austin-Lampasas and Burnet-Belton roads intersected here. Six acres deeded by Alexander M. Barton in 1877 later became the site of a schoolhouse, church and cemetery. At first the community was called "Russell Gabriel". The Cumberland Presbyterian Church organized and met in the school building in 1878. Soon the name changed to "Grove" because the schoolhouse was located in a grove of live oak trees. The settlement boasted a cotton gin and corn mill, a general store and blacksmith shop, a doctor and a Masonic Lodge. In 1882 the Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist congregations built a Union Arbor for camp meetings and revivals. For a few months in 1902 there was a post office. Since there was another Shady Grove in Texas, the name "Tamega" was used. A general store by that name operated here for 50 years. The Presbyterian fellowship erected this church structure first and then in 1905 built this tabernacle. The school consolidated with Bertram in 1942. When the Presbyterian congregation merged with Bertram in 1966, this property became a community center and homecoming site. (1979)