The Methodist Church in Chico

Duane's take

Here's what the official marker has to say, in my own words. Way out in Wise County, the story of the Methodist Church in Chico starts the way a lot of good Texas stories start: with a handful of stubborn people, a log schoolhouse, and a preacher willing to make the ride. May of 1872.

Robert Calvin Mount, born in 1826, his wife at his side, and three other pioneers gathered together. Five souls total. That was the congregation.

That was the beginning. Their pastor was the Reverend S.S. Cobb, and whatever that log schoolhouse lacked in grandeur, those five people made up for in conviction.

Now, Robert Calvin Mount didn't just show up and sing a hymn and call it good. He donated the first church site. The man put his land where his faith was.

Mount passed in 1897, but what he started kept right on building, literally. Over the course of one hundred years, that congregation moved and grew and built, not once, not twice, but five successive buildings on five separate sites. Five times they said, we need something more, something better, and five times they made it happen.

One man, one wife, three neighbors, a preacher, and a log schoolhouse in May of 1872. That's the seed. What grew from it is the whole point.

What the marker says

Founded in May 1872 when Robert Calvin Mount (1826-97), his wife, and three other pioneers worshiped in log schoolhouse. Their pastor: The Reverend S.S. Cobb. Mount donated first church site. In 100 years, congregation has had five successive buildings on five sites.