Greathouse Community, Church, and Cemetery
Maypearl, Ellis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Greathouse Community, Church, and Cemetery Archibald and Mary Greathouse, who settled in this area in 1848, gave their name to a creek and rural community that grew up here. The church, school, and cemetery that formed the focal point of community life were located on land deeded in 1881 by Ezekiel M. Brack, and on property deeded later by Martin Judy Dawson and George W. Whitefield. John Edward Dawson hauled lumber from Waxahachie by oxcart to erect the Greathouse Missionary Baptist Church building. Other early church leaders included Martin Judy Dawson, Jr., Caswell R. Tirey, and Thomas A. Tirey. The Rev. John Bailey was the first pastor. In the 1890s, a school was begun in the church building. Oldest known grave in the cemetery is that of Nancy Caroline Sims (1828-1881). When the railroad reached nearby Maypearl in 1904, many residents moved there and Greathouse began to decline. The school closed in 1912 and the church about 1927. The frame building was razed in 1958. A cemetery association, formed in 1974, maintains the burial ground. This community produced four Christian ministers: the Rev. Joseph M. Dawson (1879-1973), a prominent Baptist leader; the Rev. Everett H. Tirey; the Rev. J.W. Whitefield, Jr.; and the Rev. Austin Woodard. Another resident, Judge Jake Tirey, served on the Texas Court of Civil Appeals. (1978)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Archibald and Mary Greathouse settled here in 1848 and gave their name to a creek and the rural community that grew around a church, school, and cemetery. Settlers hauled lumber by oxcart from Waxahachie to build the Greathouse Missionary Baptist Church, and the little community even produced four ministers and a state appellate judge. When the railroad reached nearby Maypearl in 1904, families drifted away; the school closed in 1912 and the church around 1927, leaving the well-tended cemetery as the community's last witness.
Why it matters
Greathouse is a portrait of the countless rural communities that flourished and then faded with the shifting railroad lines, its cemetery preserving the memory of a settlement the tracks left behind.
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Related people
- · Archibald Greathouse
- · Mary Greathouse
- · Rev. Joseph M. Dawson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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