La Vernia United Methodist Church
La Vernia, Wilson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Earliest services of this church were held near here, at Bethesda, in 1853 by The Rev. J. S. McGee, a circuit rider. In 1876, La Vernia Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized with The Rev. John E. Vernor as pastor. By tradition the Masonic Hall housed services until 1881. Then trustees bought this site and erected a church building, which was destroyed by a storm five years later. Present church was built in 1887. The 85-year-old Post Oak Methodist Church (9 mi. NE) was merged with La Vernia in 1970. This church controls Post Oak Cemetery. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The roots of this congregation reach to 1853, when circuit rider J. S. McGee held services at nearby Bethesda. La Vernia Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized in 1876, meeting by tradition in the Masonic Hall until a church was built in 1881; a storm destroyed it five years later, and the present sanctuary rose in 1887. In 1970 the older Post Oak Methodist congregation merged into La Vernia.
Why it matters
It traces the circuit-riding origins and steady growth of frontier Methodism in South-Central Texas across the 19th century.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Attractions
- Green Acres Golf and Games10.7 mi away
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Related people
- · J. S. McGee
- · John E. Vernor
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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The Applewhite line reached Texas through Thomas Applewhite, a North Carolina–born War of 1812 sergeant who, with his wife Elizabeth and eight enslaved people, moved to Wilson County in 1853 and bought 214 acres here the next year. Local tradition holds the homestead served briefly as a stage stop on an alternate branch of the Chihuahua Road running from the coast to San Antonio. After emancipation, African American families who had taken the Applewhite name established their own homes nearby and remained in the area for generations, their story bound up with the land's original stone house, largely destroyed by 1950s highway work.
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