Smith Chapel United Methodist Church

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of Smith Chapel United Methodist Church in Wood County. About 1885, members of the Hoard Community organized a church called Davis Chapel. They didn't have a building to their name, so they made do, meetin' in the Democrat Schoolhouse and a nearby brush arbor.

Now a brush arbor is about as humble as a congregation can get, just cut timber and open sky, but folks have built lasting things on humbler foundations than that. The church was later renamed Democrat Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and then renamed again, to Smith Chapel. Names change.

The faith, apparently, did not. Come 1915, the congregation was ready to put up something more permanent. A man named B.

B. Hart sold the land for a new church, and fifty-two members pledged to help with labor and finances. Fifty-two people putting their hands and their wallets behind a promise.

Then there was W. H. Smith, a sawmill owner, who contributed much of the materials and the money.

When a sawmill man believes in your cause, the lumber tends to show up. For decades after, right up until 1950, the church was pastored only by supply pastors, circuit-style, nobody permanent, and still the congregation held. In 1957, Crow Methodist Church merged with Smith Chapel, and selling the property at Crow helped finance the current sanctuary.

One congregation folded into another, and out of that came something that stands to this day. Smith Chapel continues as a center of worship and fellowship for the community, which is exactly what those folks in the Hoard Community set out to build, sometime around 1885, under a brush arbor and a Texas sky.

What the marker says

SMITH CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST CHURCH ABOUT 1885, MEMBERS OF THE HOARD COMMUNITY ORGANIZED DAVIS CHAPEL CHURCH AND MET IN THE DEMOCRAT SCHOOLHOUSE AND A NEARBY BRUSH ARBOR. THE CHURCH WAS LATER RENAMED DEMOCRAT METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, SOUTH, AND THEN SMITH CHAPEL. IN 1915, B. B. HART SOLD LAND FOR A NEW CHURCH, WITH 52 MEMBERS PLEDGING TO HELP WITH LABOR AND FINANCES. SAWMILL OWNER W. H. SMITH CONTRIBUTED MUCH OF THE MATERIALS AND MONEY. UNTIL 1950, THE CHURCH WAS PASTORED ONLY BY SUPPLY PASTORS. IN 1957, CROW METHODIST CHURCH MERGED WITH SMITH CHAPEL; SELLING THE PROPERTY AT CROW HELPED FINANCE THE CURRENT SANCTUARY. TODAY, SMITH CHAPEL CONTINUES AS A CENTER OF WORSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP FOR THE COMMUNITY. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011