First United Methodist Church of Cameron

Cameron's Methodists rode a preaching circuit until 1885, years in which the town's future as county seat was not settled. Rockdale appeared on the new railroad in the 1870s and set off a debate over whether the county government should move there. Elections on the question were held in 1874 and again in 1880. Cameron survived both, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe arrived in 1881, and the San Antonio and Aransas Pass followed in 1891. The Handbook of Texas puts the population at 500 in 1878 and 2,000 by 1892.

What the plaque says

First United Methodist Church of Cameron This congregation began as part of the early Methodist missionary effort in Texas. A camp meeting was held in Milam County in 1841, four years after the first Methodist preachers came to Texas. By 1847, the Rev. Josiah Whipple had helped to organize this church. Until 1885 the Methodist congregation in Cameron was part of a preaching circuit. Early ministers included the Rev. Pleasant M. Yell and the Rev. John W. Devilbiss. By 1885, the church had grown so that it was given a full-time pastor, the Rev. J. E. Green. Four years earlier, in 1881, the congregation had constructed its first church building, during the pastorate of the Rev. J. H. Collard. Larger facilities were needed by the end of the nineteenth century, and a new brick sanctuary was completed in 1901. The current building was first used for services in 1923. Over the years, First United Methodist Church of Cameron has provided significant service and leadership to the community. The congregation has been host to the Texas Annual Conference of Methodist Churches and has produced several ministers from its membership. Today the church continues to reflect the ideals and traditions of its founders. (1984)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 0.2 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.
• Calvert — 20 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.
• Temple Railroad and Heritage Museum — 28 mi
  The Santa Fe depot of 1911 in a railroad town that began in 1880 as a construction camp, now a museum with locomotives and cars parked beside the active rail yard.

More markers nearby

• First National Bank of Cameron — steps away
• Milam County — steps away
• Mrs. Edna Westbrook Trigg — steps away
• First Baptist Church of Cameron — steps away