Hawkins Chapel
Loving, Young County, Texas
Marker Inscription
S. J. Hawkins (1821-1908), whose parents came to Texas from Kentucky in 1846, brought his family to this frontier area in 1876. His brother, F. J. Hawkins, and others soon joined him. Their pioneer community was centered at this site, where a school was built in 1879. A nearby brush arbor sheltered the annual summer camp meeting beginning in 1882. Hawkins Chapel Methodist Church was erected in 1884, and the first burial in the adjacent cemetery was in 1889. The school closed in 1910 and the church in 1916, but the cemetery is still in use. Descendants of early settlers hold a reunion here each summer.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1876 S. J. Hawkins brought his family to the Young County frontier, and kin and neighbors soon gathered around his homestead to form a pioneer community. A school rose in 1879, a summer brush-arbor camp meeting began in 1882, and a Methodist chapel followed in 1884, with a cemetery taking its first burial in 1889. The school and church eventually closed, but descendants still gather each summer beside the cemetery that endures.
Why it matters
Hawkins Chapel captures the familiar rhythm of Texas frontier settlement — family, school, and church anchoring a community — and shows how a place can live on in memory long after its institutions are gone.
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Related people
- · S. J. Hawkins
- · F. J. Hawkins
Themes & tags
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