Flatonia Methodist Church
Flatonia, Fayette County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded about 1855 as Lane's Chapel by Alabaman settlers, including Texas Declaration of Independence signer William Menefee. Group met in log cabin (about 6 miles NE), then erected church school building (1859) at Pine Springs. Flatonia was founded in 1873. Services at Pine Springs lapsed when church burned 1874; members began to move to town. Worship was held in homes until this church was built in 1879.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation began around 1855 as Lane's Chapel, gathered by Alabama settlers—among them William Menefee, a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence—who first met in a log cabin and then a church-school building at Pine Springs. When the town of Flatonia rose on the railroad in 1873 and the old chapel burned the next year, worshippers followed their community into town and built anew in 1879. Its path mirrors the westward drift of settlers and the pull of the new rail town.
Why it matters
The church links a signer of Texas independence to the ordinary migrations of Deep South settlers who carried their faith and institutions into the young state.
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Related people
- · William Menefee
Themes & tags
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