Soda Springs

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker at Soda Springs tells it, and I'll pass it along just as it stands. Now, if you're drivin' through Parker County and you start wondering why folks decided to put down roots way out here, the marker's got a pretty clear answer: water. Abundant water.

The Brazos River on one side, and a place called Soda Springs on the other. That combination drew early settlers like a promise, and farming and ranching families started establishing homes in this corner of the county. Where families go, community follows, and sure enough, a Baptist congregation was soon organized by the Reverend George W.

Slaughter, no less. That's a name that sounds like it belongs in a Texas story, and here it is. In the 1850s, those folks raised up a log church.

A log church, standing out here on the Texas frontier, holding a congregation together. It served them for decades; all the way to 1895, when they finally replaced it with a new frame structure. Forty-some years of Sunday mornings in that log building.

That's not nothing. The community also kept a one-room school running, and it did its job until 1945. Generations of Parker County children learned what they needed to know inside those walls.

And then there's the Soda Springs Cemetery, established back in the 1850s alongside everything else, holding the graves of many area pioneers. The people who came for the water, built the church, sent their kids to school; a good number of them never left. They're still out here, in the ground they chose.

What the marker says

Early settlers were attracted to this area of Parker County by the abundant water supply available from the Brazos River and Soda Springs. A number of farming and ranching families established homes here, and a Baptist congregation was soon organized by the Reverend George W. Slaughter. A log church was erected in the 1850s and served the congregation until 1895, when it was replaced by a new frame structure. A one-room school served the community until 1945. The Soda Springs Cemetery, established in the 1850s, contains the graves of many area pioneers. (1990)