Jewett Methodist Church

Jewett was a railroad town named for a judge. The International Railroad Company laid it out in 1871 and named it for Henry J. Jewett, who helped organize Leon County. The first year brought a store, a post office and the Advance newspaper. Citizens opened a private academy in 1875, a Baptist church followed in 1876 and a Cumberland Presbyterian church in 1884. The Houston and Texas Central came in 1905 and the Trinity and Brazos Valley in 1907, so three lines served the town until 1933, and motels housed passengers changing trains.

What the plaque says

Jewett Methodist Church The town of Jewett was laid out in December 1871 on the International & Great Northern Railroad line. By 1872 Methodists in the area were meeting for worship services in the home of William R. and Patience Horn Ellis. With the assistance of circuit-riding minister James J. Davis, the Jewett Methodist Church congregation was organized. In 1873 church trustees purchased land at the corner of Marion and West 2nd Street. Church members soon built a frame sanctuary which faced onto Marion Street. It continued to serve the congregation until 1899, when the church purchased three lots on 2nd street across from the original sanctuary. A new white frame structure with a high steeple was built in 1900. The congregation grew steadily, and by 1900 included 191 members. In addition to worship services, programs included a Sunday School and women's missionary societies. A new church complex was built in the 1950s. The Jewett Church was a member of various Methodist circuits over the years until it became a full station in 1989. It continues to uphold the traditions of its founders, offering a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1991)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Fort Boggy State Park — 15 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.
• Old Fort Parker — 27 mi
  A rebuilt 1830s family stockade near the Navasota River, where a May 1836 attack killed men of the Parker settlement and took five captives, among them nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker.
• Confederate Reunion Grounds State Historic Site — 31 mi
  Where Limestone County Confederate veterans gathered each summer from 1888, later a water supplier in the Mexia oil boom, now a Texas Historical Commission site on the Navasota River.

More markers nearby

• Concord Schools — 7.1 mi
• Concord Missionary Baptist Church — 7.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Buffalo — 8.7 mi
• Site of Worthy Store — 9.3 mi