Jacobs Chapel United Methodist Church

Ernest T. Dixon Jr., licensed to preach at Jacobs Chapel, was born in San Antonio in 1922. He graduated from Samuel Huston College in Austin in 1943 and from Drew Theological Seminary in 1945, pastored churches in Texas, New York and New Jersey, directed religious extension at Tuskegee Institute and served as president of Philander Smith College. After eight years as bishop of the Kansas area he led the San Antonio area for twelve years until 1992, and he presided over the church's Council of Bishops in 1988-89. He died in San Antonio in 1996.

What the plaque says

Jacobs Chapel United Methodist Church In 1895, east San Antonio resident Eliza Napier began to evangelize her neighborhood. The residents of east San Antonio, mostly African Americans, were facing increasing hostilities in white-led houses of worship and other organizations. Napier encouraged residents to form independent religious and social fellowship groups to foster support within the Black community. She began a church, called "The East End Mission," in her home at the corner of Hedges and South Gevers Streets. When the number of attendees rose so that Napier's house could not contain them, she petitioned the Methodist elders to open a church. Under the leadership of the Reverend J.T. Jacobs, the first church was built. Following the Rev. Jacobs' death in 1911, the name of the church was changed to Jacobs Chapel Methodist Church. In 1925 and 1948, new buildings were constructed. In 1943, Ernest T. Dixon, who was serving as Sunday school superintendent at Jacobs Chapel, received his first preaching license. In July 1972, he became the first African American elected to the Office of Bishop in the south-central jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church. During the tenure of the Reverend E. Joseph Tanner, a new parsonage was purchased and food ministry outreach started. Further expansions have since been undertaken. The church enjoyed a strong music ministry and active children's and youth ministries. Jacobs Chapel also began special senior ministries. From humble beginnings as the vision of just a few, Jacobs Chapel grew with the tireless hands of many generations. It has been a focal point for the black community on the east side of San Antonio for decades. (2022)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Alamo — 1.8 mi
  Mission San Antonio de Valero before it was a fort: a church its builders never finished, a thirteen-day siege in 1836, and the Army gable of 1850-52 that became its emblem.
• La Villita Historic Arts Village — 1.8 mi
  The little village across the river from the presidio, where Cos surrendered San Antonio in 1835, rebuilt by Depression-era youth crews as a working crafts village.
• San Antonio River Walk — 1.8 mi
  A Depression-era park one level below downtown, built because San Antonio refused to pave its river after the 1921 flood, and designed by an architect the project later fired.
• King William Historic District — 2.2 mi
  Mission farmland turned German merchants' quarter on the San Antonio River, renamed in World War I, then saved by a neighbor who restored fourteen houses, starting with his own.

More markers nearby

• Hamilton P. Bee — 0.3 mi
• John Salmon "Rip" Ford — 0.3 mi
• Adina Emilia de Zavala — 0.3 mi
• Saint Philip's College — 0.4 mi