HistoricSiteMarkers
Reconstruction & Gilded Age

Poolville United Methodist Church

Poolville, Parker County, Texas

Marker Inscription

In February 1885, six members of the Goshen Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the eastern part of Parker County, left to form a Methodist church in the farming community of Poolville. The Reverend J. Davis Crockett was called to serve as their first minister. Worship services were held in the Poolville schoolhouse until 1896 when this sanctuary was completed. Throughout its history, Poolville Methodist Church has provided service and leadership to the community and surrounding area. (1983)

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

In February 1885 six members of a nearby Methodist congregation broke away to plant a new church in the farming community of Poolville, calling the Reverend J. Davis Crockett as their first minister. For a decade they worshiped in the Poolville schoolhouse until this sanctuary was finished in 1896. The congregation became a fixture of community life in eastern Parker County.

Why it matters

Frontier churches like this were the social and moral anchors of newly settled farming communities across 19th-century Texas.

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Related people

  • · J. Davis Crockett

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

Poolville

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Poolville took its name from a natural spring-fed pool in the Clear Fork of the Trinity River, a well-known watering place for cattle herds bound for market. A saloon, store, and sawmill drew a settlement together around 1870, and after "Major" A. H. Dunn donated land for a townsite in 1879, the community blossomed with a bank, hotels, blacksmiths, a cotton gin, and even its own newspaper, the Poolville Searchlight. Homes, churches, and schools rounded out a thriving Parker County town.

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