St. Paul United Methodist Church
Anahuac, Chambers County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church was established in 1869 by a group of former slaves who had settled in the rural Double Bayou community. Land at this site was deeded to the congregation in the 1870s by charter member Martha Godfrey, who also donated the original tract of the nearby cemetery. Born about 1812 in Tennessee, Martha had been brought to Texas as a slave of the Mayes family, early area pioneers who settled here in the 1830s. St. Paul United Methodist Church has served as a focal point of the surrounding area for well over a century. The Double Bayou Community School was held here from the early 1880s until 1920, when a new schoolhouse was built. Church events have become important social activities, and the Martha Godfrey Cemetery, long associated with the congregation, has been the burial place of many area leaders. Funerals here have traditionally included the ringing of the church's toner, a small bell with a muffled sound. One of the oldest churches in Chambers County, St. Paul United Methodist Church has played a vital role in the area's development. the fellowship's growth continues to reflect the ideals of the Freedmen who founded it shortly after the Civil War.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1869 by former slaves in the rural Double Bayou community, St. Paul United Methodist Church grew from land donated by charter member Martha Godfrey, a woman born into slavery in Tennessee around 1812 and brought to Texas as a child. For decades the building did double duty as the Double Bayou Community School, and its muffled toner bell tolled at funerals in the adjoining cemetery Godfrey also helped establish. One of the oldest churches in Chambers County, it remains a focal point that still reflects the ideals of the Freedmen who founded it.
Why it matters
Freedmen's churches were the beating heart of Black community life after emancipation, serving at once as sanctuary, schoolhouse, and civic center when few other institutions would.
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Related people
- · Martha Godfrey
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Black Education in Chambers County
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When the 1869 Texas Constitution called for public schools open to Black and white children, the Freedmen's Bureau helped build a one-room schoolhouse for African Americans at Wallisville, one of the county's first. Over the following decades Black schools spread to Double Bayou, Turtle Bayou, and other communities, their sessions lasting only as long as families could pay a teacher, and children in Anahuac attended classes at St. James Methodist Church. Segregated high schools like George Washington Carver served older students until desegregation was completed in 1966.
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