Bear Creek Methodist Church and Cemetery
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
German immigrants settled in the area surrounding the junction of Langham and Bear creeks in the 1840s. Settlers traveled to nearby churches for Sunday services until about 1879 when seven charter members established the Bear Creek German Methodist Church. The congregation initially met in members' homes. The church was subsequently made a mission of the Rose Hill Methodist Church near Tomball. In 190 a small church building was erected near the Hillendahl Family Cemetery. The site proved to be poorly drained and often inaccessible, and in 1902 the congregation moved the sanctuary here on three acres donated by Fred and Katherine Brandt. A part of the acreage was laid out as a cemetery. Christine Backen's burial in 1904 was the first recorded here. The cemetery is still active and is maintained by the Addicks Bear Creek Cemetery Association. A summer storm destroyed the sanctuary in 1915 but by the end of that year a new church building had been erected. Area flooding in 1935 resulted in the construction of the nearby Addicks Reservoir in 1940 and the subsequent removal of the church to another site about 1.7 miles south of here. The congregation changed its name to Addicks United Methodist Church in 1968.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
German immigrants settled near the junction of Langham and Bear creeks in the 1840s, and about 1879 seven charter members founded the Bear Creek German Methodist Church, at first meeting in members' homes. After an early building on poorly drained ground, the congregation moved the sanctuary in 1902 to three acres donated by Fred and Katherine Brandt, laying out a cemetery whose first recorded burial came in 1904. Flooding led to the Addicks Reservoir and the church's later relocation, and in 1968 the congregation became Addicks United Methodist Church.
Why it matters
It preserves the faith and endurance of a German immigrant community whose church outlasted storms, floods, and even the reservoir that displaced it.
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Related people
- · Fred Brandt
- · Katherine Brandt
Themes & tags
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