Salado Methodist Church
Salado, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Building erected 1890 for a congregation organized 1854 at site on Salado Creek. Circuit riders serving congregation included the Rev. J.E. Ferguson, father of a Texas governor. Building committee for this church: J.L. Bailey, W.H. Cawthon, J.M. Porter. Charlie Bailey and Wallie Harkey drove wagons to haul the lumber from Austin, about 50 miles to the south. Original members' families still worship here. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1969
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1854 beside Salado Creek, this Methodist congregation was served in its early years by circuit-riding preachers, among them the Rev. J. E. Ferguson, whose son would become a Texas governor. When the members built this sanctuary in 1890, Charlie Bailey and Wallie Harkey hauled the lumber by wagon some fifty miles from Austin. Descendants of the original members worship here still.
Why it matters
The circuit rider and the wagon-hauled meeting house are enduring images of how frontier Texans built lasting religious communities out of little more than distance and determination.
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Related people
- · Rev. J. E. Ferguson
Themes & tags
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