Blossom Hill United Methodist Church
Henderson, Rusk County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Blossom Hill United Methodist Church was established in 1879, when Mr. and Mrs. L.H. Patterson donated the first church property. The church was first known as Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church and was the first church established in the Chapman community. Chapman was named for the Henry Chapman family. Chapman was one of the earliest settlers in the area, and had received a grant of 640 acres as a veteran of the Texas Revolution. The original wood frame church building was erected west of the original structure. The name of the church was changed to Blossom Hill United Methodist Church circa 1927. A brick church structure replaced the second church in 1959. Throughout the years, the Methodist Church built a strong relationship with the Willow Springs Presbyterian Church, also located in Chapman. For many years church services were held at the Methodist Church on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, while services were held at the Presbyterian Church on the first and third Sundays. For approximately 100 years the two churches held a joint revival each July. The churches began a community sunrise Easter service in 1929. The first service was organized by Mrs. L. A. Carrington, Mrs. Gennie Snelgrove and members of both churches. Although the Presbyterian Church closed in 2006, Blossom Hill United Methodist Church carries on the sunrise service tradition and continues to serve members of the surrounding community. (2009)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1879 on land donated by the Pattersons, this congregation began as Pleasant Hill Methodist Episcopal Church — the first church in the Chapman community, named for a Texas Revolution veteran who had settled the area on a 640-acre grant. Renamed Blossom Hill around 1927 and rebuilt in brick in 1959, it shared a remarkable rhythm with the neighboring Willow Springs Presbyterian Church, alternating Sundays and holding a joint July revival for roughly a century. Its community sunrise Easter service, begun in 1929, still carries on.
Why it matters
It captures how rural East Texas settlements organized their social and spiritual life around cooperating congregations, a pattern of shared worship that held small farming communities together for generations.
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Related people
- · Henry Chapman
- · L.H. Patterson
Themes & tags
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