Mount Vernon United Methodist Church
Palestine, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Early denominational records indicate that this congregation was in existence as a mission church as early as 1880. In 1896, A. L. and Susanna Herrington donated one acre to the county to be used for a free school. A one-room school building was erected on the site, on Walnut Creek twelve miles north of Palestine, and also served as a church meeting place. The community was known as Mount Vernon, and the Methodist church assumed that name, also. The one-room building was moved in 1907 two miles north of its original location, and two rooms were added to the structure for the growing school. The congregation continued to meet in the building until 1913, when this site, across the road from the school building, was deeded to the Mount Vernon Methodist Episcopal Church, South. A sanctuary was completed the same year. The church has maintained active programs over the years, and has served as a training ground for many young ministers and student pastors from nearby Lon Morris College. For over one hundred years, the Mount Vernon Methodist Church has served as a center for its rural community. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation existed as a mission by 1880, and in 1896 the Herringtons donated an acre for a free school whose one-room building, on Walnut Creek north of Palestine, doubled as the church's meeting place. The community and its church both took the name Mount Vernon. As the congregation grew it built its own 1913 sanctuary across the road and long served as a training ground for young ministers from nearby Lon Morris College.
Why it matters
The shared schoolhouse-church shows how faith and education grew together in rural Texas, a single building serving a community's spirit and its children alike.
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Related people
- · A. L. Herrington
- · Susanna Herrington
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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