Petty's Chapel
Corsicana, Navarro County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Travelers across this area traversed nearby creeks at hardbottom crossings, including one north of here on Chambers Creek. They crossed Briar Creek on the way into Corsicana, established in 1848. The first road utilizing these two crossings was known as the Military Road. This part of the county was initially divided into four abstracts beginning with that of Jehu (John) Peoples in 1835. The remaining three were patented by 1851 to Wyley Powell, Thomas Morrow and Lewis Powell. The first settlers believed to have established homes in the immediate vicinity were Elizabeth Hamilton and her seven children, and the Joseph Bragg family. Brought together by the marriage of Julia Hamilton and Joseph Bragg in 1849, the families lived on the north side of Chambers Creek near the hardbottom crossing that came to be known as Hamilton Crossing. Others soon came to the area, farming and settling on the preferred sandy land instead of the black clay soils found in the flood-prone plains along Chambers and Briar creeks. In 1871, George Valentine Petty, for whom the community was named, conveyed land to the Houston & Texas Central Railway. In May 1893, local Baptists constructed the Petty's Chapel Baptist Church building. Although altered over the years, it continues in use for Sunday services over a century later. Two events greatly altered Petty's Chapel. Discovery of the Corsicana oilfield and other deposits throughout the area in the late 19th century brought new residents and economic improvements. In 1890, the county located the county poor farm in the community, creating more jobs. The facility closed in 1944, but its cemetery across the road from the community burial ground remains as evidence of its brief existence. (2006)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This corner of Navarro County took shape around the hardbottom creek crossings of an early route known as the Military Road, which carried travelers toward Corsicana, founded in 1848. Families like the Hamiltons and Braggs settled the sandy uplands, and in 1893 local Baptists raised the Petty's Chapel church that still holds services more than a century later. The community was reshaped by the discovery of the Corsicana oilfield in the late 19th century and by the county poor farm, established here in 1890 and closed in 1944.
Why it matters
Petty's Chapel captures how a rural Texas community grew from frontier roads and creek crossings, then was transformed by one of the first great oil discoveries in the state.
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Related people
- · George Valentine Petty
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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