Barnett Chapel Methodist Church

Juneteenth, one of the celebrations the congregation keeps, marks June 19, 1865, when Union general Gordon Granger announced at Galveston that the enslaved people of Texas were free. The first broader celebrations doubled as political rallies teaching freedpeople their voting rights. Some towns pushed the festivities to their outskirts, so Black groups raised money to buy their own grounds, often named Emancipation Park; Houston's ten-acre site was deeded in 1872. Representative Al Edwards of Houston carried the bill making Juneteenth a state holiday, signed in 1979, and the first state-sponsored celebration came in 1980.

What the plaque says

Barnett Chapel Methodist Church This is the oldest African American church in Kerr county. In 1896, Jim and Josephine Barnett were instrumental in organizing the first religious services for African Americans in Kerrville. The congregation was named Barnett Chapel in their honor. On March 8, 1898, John T. Page sold, to trustees Josephine Barnett, Levi Butler, Z. T. Wilson and James Askey, property which remains the congregation's home today. Circuit-riding ministers came from Bandera, Uvalde and Fredericksburg before the Rev. W.M. Mosby became the first full-time minister in 1902. Through worship, evangelism, outreach, emergency relief, Juneteenth and heritage celebrations, youth programs, music, and mission work, the congregation has made a significant impact on the community. (2017)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Schreiner Mansion — 0.7 mi
  The 1879 downtown home of Charles Schreiner, the Alsatian-born merchant, banker and rancher whose store and mohair trade built Kerrville.
• Treue der Union Monument — 15 mi
  An 1866 German-language monument in Comfort over the graves of Hill Country Unionists killed at the Nueces in 1862, its flag of thirty-six stars kept at half-staff.
• Old Tunnel State Park — 19 mi
  A railroad tunnel abandoned in 1942 that now shelters up to three million Mexican free-tailed bats, who fly out each evening from May through October.
• Vereins Kirche and Main Street — 22 mi
  The octagonal Society Church on Fredericksburg's market square, rebuilt in stone in the 1930s, beside a main street laid out like a Rhine village.

More markers nearby

• Doyle Colored School — steps away
• The Famous Door Café — steps away
• Mount Olive Baptist Church — steps away
• H-E-B — 0.4 mi