Antelope United Methodist Church
Antelope, Jack County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Rev. Isaac Newton Crutchfield organized this congregation in 1879 as the Antelope Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Charter members were Mollie Edwards, James and Sarah Nicholas, and W. L. Eliza, and Emma Patton. A Sunday School program was established as early as 1887. Materials for the church building were hauled by wagon from the nearest railheads in Graham and Henrietta. The structure was shared with the local Baptist congregation until their own sanctuary was completed. (1985)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1879 on the North Texas frontier, this Methodist congregation hauled its building materials by wagon from distant railheads and shared its sanctuary with the local Baptists until they could complete their own. A Sunday school program followed within a few years.
Why it matters
Frontier churches like Antelope's knit scattered settlers into communities, often serving several denominations under one roof in the sparsely settled West.
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Related people
- · Isaac Newton Crutchfield
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Town of Antelope
Antelope, TX
Antelope took its name from the springs where pronghorn watered and where the Kiowa once camped. Platted in 1875 along the Henrietta–Graham mail route, it grew into a bustling supply stop for cattle drives heading north, boasting a spa built around its mineral wells, a hotel, school, and 400 residents by 1887. Ranching and later oil kept the community alive well into the twentieth century.
Antelope Cemetery
Antelope, TX
The oldest tombstone in this Jack County cemetery dates to 1882, marking the burial ground of the small community of Antelope. In 1890 the site passed to the Antelope Methodist Church, which held it until deeding the tract to a cemetery association in 1954, with an added parcel given the following year.
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Named for rock formations resembling teepees and once an Indian ceremonial ground, the Stone Houses gave their name to a sharp frontier clash on November 10, 1837. Lieutenant A. Van Benthousen and 18 Rangers, tracking stolen horses, were attacked nearby by a much larger Keechi force; ten Rangers and many warriors fell in a three-hour fight before the survivors escaped on foot. In 1874 the area's first permanent home was built close by the formations.
Squaw Mountain Community
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