Moody United Methodist Church
Moody, McLennan County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This congregation grew from an 1855 union church organized in the pioneer settlement of Perry (2 mi. NE). When the Santa Fe Railroad was laid through central Texas in 1881, the town of Moody grew up along its tracks, and many of the residents of Perry moved to the new railroad town. The Rev. J.W. Tremble became the first part-time minister for the small group of methodists who had come from the Perry Union Church. The first sanctuary was built on Fourth Street in 1884. The congregation has worshiped at this site since 1956.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation traces its roots to an 1855 union church in the pioneer settlement of Perry, a few miles northeast. When the Santa Fe Railroad crossed central Texas in 1881, the new town of Moody sprang up along the tracks and drew Perry's residents to it — a common pattern as railroads redrew the map of Texas settlement. The first sanctuary rose in 1884, and the congregation has worshiped on its current site since 1956.
Why it matters
Its story captures how the coming of the railroad reshuffled rural America, dissolving older settlements and gathering their people into new trackside towns.
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Related people
- · J.W. Tremble
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Moody
Moody, TX
When the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad bypassed the older settlement of Perry in 1881, a new town was platted on settler William Naler's land two miles south. It took its name from Col. W. L. Moody of Galveston, who oversaw the track-laying and honored his own family. Incorporated in 1901, Moody grew into a full community of schools, churches, businesses, and fraternal orders.
First Baptist Church of Moody
Moody, TX
The First Baptist Church of Moody was organized in 1855 in the nearby community of Perry, with Elder S. G. O'Bryan as its first pastor and the Rev. John McClain among its early ministers. When the Santa Fe Railroad bypassed Perry in the early 1880s, the congregation followed opportunity to the new railroad town of Moody, relocating in 1883. Over the decades it ordained pastors from its own membership and helped anchor the surrounding community.
Welborn-Bostick Home
Moody, TX
Missouri natives James Irby Welborn and his wife Nettie bought this Central Texas land in 1860 and gave generously to their community, donating acreage for Moody College and right-of-way for the Santa Fe Railroad. Their son George built the present home in 1914 on the old family homesite, and later generations carried the property forward. By the marker's telling, Welborn descendants had lived on the land 121 years — the oldest family-owned property in Moody.
Old Perry Cemetery
Moody, TX
This cemetery grew to serve the pioneer settlers of the Perry community, beginning with the 1854 grave of Jane Leach, a schoolteacher. Perry once held stores, a gin, a school, a union church, and a post office, but a destructive storm in 1873 pushed residents to a new townsite, and the coming of the Santa Fe rail lines in 1881 drew the settlement again to what became Moody. Only this cemetery marks the community's original ground.