Allen Chapel Community

Allen Chapel's institutions came after its homes. Emancipated people settled here in the 1870s, but the Handbook of Texas dates the African Methodist Episcopal congregation to about 1900 and its building to 1903, on land bought from Nat Allen, for whom the community is named. A one-room schoolhouse was built in 1910. By the mid-1930s the community consisted of the church, the school and a number of houses. In the early 1990s it was a dispersed farming community with a church, a community center and houses. It lies a mile south of Ratcliff off State Highway 7.

What the plaque says

Allen Chapel Community Emancipated slaves of pioneer landowners in nearby communities established homes and farms here in the 1870s. Life centered around the church and school near this site. Land for the African Methodist Episcopal Church was purchased from Nat Allen, one of the original church trustees, for whom the community was named. The one-room schoolhouse was moved to Kennard (3 mi. W) in 1968, but was returned to the Allen Chapel Community in 1985. Descendants of many of the original settlers still live here. (1986)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 15 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• Four C Mill — 0.6 mi
• Pioneer Settlers of Coltharp — 0.8 mi
• Ratcliff — 0.9 mi
• Antioch Cemetery — 1.1 mi