Old Shiloh Methodist Church and Campground
Houston County, Houston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
As early as 1834, was site of worship services conducted by Stephen F. Box (1760?-1844). A log house built about 1848 served as both church and school. A post office opened Jan. 21, 1867; closed Jan 29, 1869. The log building burned in 1869 and services were held on the campground. Division among members caused erection of New Shiloh Church (1 mile SW), which later burned in a woods fire. In 1880, William Calvert Hallmark (1804-1880), son-in-law of Box, willed this property to the old church body. Present structure was started in 1883.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Worship services were held on this ground as early as 1834, led by the aged pioneer preacher Stephen F. Box, and by about 1848 a log house here served as both church and school. A post office briefly operated in the late 1860s before the log building burned in 1869, after which services moved to the campground. A doctrinal split spawned a short-lived New Shiloh Church, and in 1880 William Calvert Hallmark, Box's son-in-law, willed the property to the congregation, which began its present building in 1883.
Why it matters
The Methodist camp meeting was a hallmark of frontier religious life, and this site preserves that tradition from the earliest days of Anglo settlement in Texas.
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Related people
- · Stephen F. Box
- · William Calvert Hallmark
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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