Elwood Methodist Church

Elwood nearly became a county seat. When Madison County was cut from Grimes, Walker and Leon counties, Elwood ranked among its largest settlements, and by 1854 it rivaled Madisonville for the courthouse. Dr. Pleasant W. Kittrell, who pushed the new county through the legislature, picked the site, and the law required seats to lie within five miles of the county's center. Madisonville won. Elwood, passed over, never recovered its early promise, and the Texas Almanac now lists it as a town that no longer exists as such. The church and its cemetery carry on the name.

What the plaque says

Elwood Methodist Church Begun in the 1840s, when the community of Elwood was known as French, this church first met in a log cabin built by James Blair Durham. Services were later held in a frame building near the cemetery before the present sanctuary was completed at the turn of the century. The cemetery and the nearby lone grave of a young girl are reminders of the area's early settlers, many of whom were members here. Through its leadership, the Elwood Methodist Church developed as a focal point for the surrounding rural area. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Boggy State Park — 14 mi
  A 1,847-acre park in Leon County named for a settlers' palisade of 1840, with a 15-acre lake, short trails and the story of Tennessee farmers, the Keechi and a Ranger captain.

More markers nearby

• Midway Church of Christ — 4.3 mi
• Site of Trinidad — 5.6 mi
• Bucareli — 6.0 mi
• Robbins Ferry — 6.0 mi