Merit Methodist Church
Greenville, Hunt County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in April 1871. First pastor was the Rev. W. P. Reed; first member, Margaret Owens. Services were held at Merit School. In 1888 land was bought and a frame church built. Wrecked by a 1905 storm and then rebuilt, church still serves descendants of original members.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the flush of Reconstruction-era settlement in the Texas Blackland Prairie, a small band of Methodists organized this congregation in April 1871, worshiping first inside the Merit schoolhouse before buying land and raising a frame church in 1888. A storm flattened the building in 1905, but the congregation rebuilt, and the church went on serving the descendants of its founders.
Why it matters
Rural churches like Merit were the social and moral anchors of frontier Texas communities, binding scattered farm families into a town long before there was much of a town.
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Related people
- · Rev. W. P. Reed
- · Margaret Owens
Themes & tags
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