Cooks Point United Methodist Church

German Methodists came late and in numbers. In 1870 only 2 percent of Burleson County's people were foreign-born, but during the 1870s Germans and Austrians began settling communities from Cooks Point in the east to Deanville in the west. Czechs followed in the 1880s, often forming enclaves inside older settlements, and a Czech Brethren church later stood at Cooks Point too. Foreign-born residents never passed 8 percent of the county in the nineteenth century, yet the Handbook of Texas credits them with enriching its cultural and social life.

What the plaque says

Cooks Point United Methodist Church This congregation began in 1881 to serve the German speaking population in the area. Organized largely through the efforts of Anna Duewall, who had come to Burleson County with her family in 1880, the fellowship originally was known as the German Methodist Church, Caldwell. The Rev. Jacob Ott served as first pastor. Worship services were held in the members' homes until a sanctuary was built in 1883. The congregation adopted the name Cooks Point in the 1940s and continues to play an important role in the surrounding rural area. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 17 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.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 22 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 27 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.

More markers nearby

• Fort Tenoxtitlan — steps away
• Elizabeth Chapel Methodist Church — 0.2 mi
• Cooks Point — 2.0 mi
• Near Homesite of Judge Andrew S. Broaddus — 2.0 mi