Shooks Chapel Methodist Church
Sulphur Springs, Hopkins County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church traces its history to 1886, when area settlers organized a congregation of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The church was named for the Rev. W. A. Shook, who held the first revival here. The congregation met in a brush arbor or a nearby schoolhouse until a sanctuary was built on land donated by B. P. Joiner. Early worship services were led by student pastors who were often paid in produce. Associated with the church is a community cemetery, begun in 1889. A second sanctuary, built in 1916, was replaced by a new structure in 1974.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This Methodist congregation dates to 1886, when settlers gathered under the leadership of the Rev. W. A. Shook, who preached its first revival and gave it his name. Worshippers met in a brush arbor and a schoolhouse until they built a sanctuary on donated land, served by student pastors who were sometimes paid in produce. An adjoining cemetery begun in 1889 and a succession of new sanctuaries mark the congregation's long endurance.
Why it matters
Shooks Chapel reflects the frontier Methodist circuit tradition—brush-arbor revivals, donated land, and barter-paid preachers—that knit scattered rural settlers into lasting communities.
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Related people
- · W. A. Shook
- · B. P. Joiner
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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