Site of Indian Creek Community
Comanche vicinity, Comanche County, Texas
Marker Inscription
One of the first settlements in Comanche County; founded in 1851 by John A. McGuire. The first public building here was a stockade that enclosed several log cabins. Named "Double Pens" for its double walls, it was a storehouse for emergency supplies of grain, water and other food to be used by the settlers when they took refuge there during Indian raids. When the men were away, the women and children slept at Double Pens. Church services were also held inside the walls and a school was organized there in 1876. The first teacher was R. W. Welborne. The Indian Creek Methodist Church was formed in 1880 with the Rev. H. B. Henry as pastor. Land for a building was given by J. M. (Mart) McGuire. The church was noted for its summer camp meetings, held yearly for two weeks after cultivation of the crops was finished. The campers, from a wide area, would bring chickens for eggs and meat and cows to supply milk. The church was also known for the large number of preachers it produced. In 1922 the present building was erected. Services were discontinued in 1958. The first burial in the cemetery was made in 1880. The land, then property of R. C. Coker, was given to the church by later owner J. H. Watson in 1894. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1851 by John A. McGuire, Indian Creek was among the first settlements in Comanche County, and its most vital structure was a double-walled stockade called "Double Pens"—a fortified storehouse where women and children sheltered during Indian raids while the men were away. As the frontier quieted, the refuge gave way to civic life: a school in 1876, the Indian Creek Methodist Church in 1880 with its famous two-week summer camp meetings, and a cemetery whose first burial came that same year. Services ended in 1958, leaving the community to memory.
Why it matters
Places like Indian Creek capture the raw reality of the Texas frontier, where survival depended on communal defense before churches, schools, and camp meetings could take root.
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Related people
- · John A. McGuire
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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