Post Oak Christian Methodist Episcopal Church
Easton, Gregg County, Texas
Marker Inscription
DURING RECONSTRUCTION, AFRICAN AMERICANS LIVING IN THE AREA FORMED COMMUNITIES AND CHURCHES. MANY OF THESE CHURCHES SERVED AS A HOUSE OF WORSHIP AND AS THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CENTER OF THE COMMUNITY. IN 1878, NEAR THE TOWN OF EASTON, A GROUP OF AFRICAN AMERICAN CHRISTIANS JOINED IN FELLOWSHIP TO FORM THE POST OAK COLORED METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. ORIGINAL FOUNDERS INCLUDED BROS. JEFF PORTLEY, JESSIE DANIELS, SR., AND DANIEL BRADFORD. THE FIRST MEMBER ON THE MEMBERSHIP ROLL WAS CHARLIE LUCAS FROM 1880. THE CONGREGATION FIRST ORGANIZED UNDER THE PASTORATE OF REVEREND M. BUTLER. OVER THE YEARS, THE CHURCH WAS GUIDED BY REVEREND ELI JOHNSON, REVEREND T. H. RANDALL AND REVEREND V. McCALISTER. A LOG CABIN SERVED AS THE FIRST PLACE OF WORSHIP UNTIL THE GROWTH IN MEMBERSHIP LED TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF A BUILDING BETWEEN 1896 AND 1899 MEASURING 14 BY 28 FEET. SEVERAL ACRES WERE PURCHASED FROM COUNTY JUDGE E. M. BRAMLETTE IN 1912. IN THE LATE 1930s AND EARLY 1940s, A NEWER FRAMED BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED. IN THE 1970s, COMMUNITY GROWTH ENABLED THE CHURCH TO BUILD A LARGER, MODERN BRICK STRUCTURE. THE CHURCH CHANGED ITS NAME IN MAY 1954 TO POST OAK CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH. FROM ITS INCEPTION, CHURCH SERVICES WERE ONLY HELD ONCE A MONTH. BY THE 1960s, MEMBERS DESIRED TO MEET EVERY SUNDAY. THE POST OAK CHRISTIAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SERVES AS A REMINDER OF THE HISTORY AND HERITAGE OF A COMMUNITY AND CHURCH CREATED BY AFRICAN AMERICAN LANDOWNERS AND RESIDENTS OF EASTON AND GREGG COUNTY.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1878, freedpeople near Easton gathered in fellowship to found the Post Oak Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, worshipping first in a humble log cabin. Like many Black churches born in Reconstruction, it served as far more than a sanctuary—it was the political and social heart of a community built by African American landowners. From a tiny frame building the congregation grew across the decades into a modern brick church, renamed Post Oak Christian Methodist Episcopal in 1954.
Why it matters
Founded by formerly enslaved families, the church embodies how independent Black congregations became the bedrock of self-governance, fellowship, and dignity in the Reconstruction South.
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Related people
- · Jeff Portley
- · Jessie Daniels, Sr.
- · Daniel Bradford
Themes & tags
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