A Century of the Methodist Church

The plaque's tidy dates skip the congregation's rougher early years. A 2019 Texas House resolution marking its 150th anniversary says Hearne's first Methodists met on the second floor of a local saloon. The church built here in 1885 burned that same year and was soon replaced, and the doors of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, opened for worship in 1886. Later a storm moved the building three feet south of where it stood, and the congregation set it on new pillars. The Memorial Building followed in 1976.

What the plaque says

A Century of the Methodist Church Methodists of Hearne organized their church in Nov. 1870 with the Rev. Horace Bishop as pastor. In 1884 the Rev. Seth Ward became pastor. A church was constructed at this location in 1885. (Later the Rev. Mr. Ward was first native Texan to be made a bishop in the Methodist church.) Through gifts and pledges of the membership, present edifice was built, 1931; renovated, 1965. Having adopted name "Grace" in 1948, congregation became Grace United Methodist Church in 1958 and observed 100th Anniversary of Methodism in Hearne in 1970. (1972)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Calvert — 8.3 mi
  A railroad cotton town of 1868 on State Highway 6 that claimed the largest cotton gin in the world and elected Black men to county and state office during Reconstruction.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 23 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 24 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Hearne — steps away
• City of Hearne — steps away
• Site of the Town of Nashville — 5.0 mi
• The Parish Carriage House — 8.3 mi