Leakey Methodist Church
Leakey, Real County, Texas
Marker Inscription
By establishing a home and sawmill nearby in 1856 John and Nancy Leakey became the first to settle in the Frio River Canyon area. This congregation traces its origin to worship services held in the Leakey home by Methodist circuit riding Minister H. G. Horton. In 1883 the Methodist congregation began meeting in a schoolhouse built in the newly established town of Leakey. By 1885 the schoolhouse was also the site of a church school known as the Floral Sabbath Sunday School supervised by Dr. F. D. Johns. A town lot donated by J. B. and Fannie (Leakey) Johnson in 1890 was used by the Leakey Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to build its first sanctuary in 1890-91. The congregation met in the original sanctuary and later the county courthouse before building a new sanctuary at this site in 1922. The church became the Leakey Methodist Church in 1939. An education building was added in 1955 and a new parsonage in 1965. Annual Easter sunrise services and hosting community Thanksgiving services every three years are traditional activities of the congregation. Leakey Methodist has historically supported many youth and senior programs and missionary efforts. The congregation continues to provide religious guidance for the community. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When John and Nancy Leakey built a home and sawmill in the Frio River Canyon in 1856, they were the first to settle this remote stretch of the Hill Country—and their home soon hosted the circuit-rider services that grew into this congregation. From a schoolhouse meeting place to sanctuaries raised in 1890 and 1922, the church tracked the growth of the town named for its founding family. Easter sunrise and community Thanksgiving services have long knit it into local life.
Why it matters
The congregation shows how frontier faith communities often began in a settler's front room and matured alongside the very towns they helped create.
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Related people
- · John Leakey
- · Nancy Leakey
- · H. G. Horton
Themes & tags
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