Chinn's Chapel Methodist Church
Copper Canyon, Denton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church began as a nondenominational congregation organized by pioneer settlers of the Peters Colony in 1846. Itinerant preachers were invited to hold services in a log church/school building located about one quarter mile northwest of here. The log chapel was on 10 acres called Antioch donated by North Carolina immigrants Mary Stowe Chinn (1808-1871) and Elisha Chinn (1802-1876) for church and cemetery purposes. The church was admitted to the North Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1872, as Chinn's Chapel Methodist Church. Sunday School classes began that year. In 1877 the church purchased 4 acres here at the site of freshwater springs and early camp meetings. A sanctuary was erected and a tabernacle built for summer revivals. The property also included a combination Woodmen of the World Lodge Hall/public school from 1884 to 1921. Chinn's Chapel served as the main gathering place for the area. Though membership declined sharply after World War II, the church endured. Through denominational merger it became Chinn's Chapel United Methodist Church in 1968. Local efforts to revive the institution began in the late 1980s, and an active membership was reestablished. The building was renovated in 1996. (1996)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1846, pioneer settlers of the Peters Colony gathered in a log church-and-school building on land the Chinn family donated for a chapel and cemetery. Admitted to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1872, the congregation soon moved to freshwater springs that had drawn early camp meetings, raising a sanctuary and a tabernacle for summer revivals. For generations it doubled as lodge hall, school, and social hub before declining after World War II — only to be revived and renovated in the 1990s.
Why it matters
The chapel traces the whole arc of a rural Texas settlement, showing how frontier congregations knit scattered families into a community through worship, schooling, and fellowship.
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Related people
- · Mary Stowe Chinn
- · Elisha Chinn
Related events
- · Peters Colony settlement
Themes & tags
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