White's Chapel United Methodist Church
Southlake, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Founded by settlers who came by wagon train from Dade County, Ga., 1871. Early services were in home of S. B. Austin, the leader. Austin gave land for a cemetery and church. A log meetinghouse was built and in use in Feb. 1872. This was the first Methodist church in this vicinity. Circuit rider preachers drew crowds here from as far away as 20 miles. At first called "Oak Hill," for home church in Georgia, this was soon renamed for a permanent pastor, the Rev. Mr. White. The community school was held in successive church buildings until 1916. Many settlers rest in nearby cemetery.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1871, a band of settlers rolled into north Texas by wagon train from Dade County, Georgia, and gathered to worship in S. B. Austin's home. Austin donated land for a cemetery and church, and by February 1872 a log meetinghouse stood as the first Methodist congregation in the vicinity. Circuit-riding preachers drew worshippers from as far as twenty miles away, and the building doubled as the community school until 1916. First called "Oak Hill" for the settlers' home church, it was soon renamed for the Rev. Mr. White.
Why it matters
The church, cemetery, and schoolhouse-in-one capture how frontier faith communities knit together the earliest institutions of settled life across the postwar Texas prairie.
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Related people
- · S. B. Austin
- · Rev. Mr. White
Themes & tags
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