Mt. Horeb Baptist Church

Peyton Roberts took up the land for the colony by preemption, and other freedmen followed his lead; though preemption technically ended in 1876, patents in the area were issued as late as 1880. Jim Upshear, who had come with his wife by wagon train from Virginia, gave the land for the first church, and a small log schoolhouse went up too. A post office ran from 1898 to 1909 and another from 1918 to 1930, named Board House for A. V. Walker's board house, the first in the community. In 2000 thirty people lived there.

What the plaque says

Mt. Horeb Baptist Church Born a slave in Virginia, Peyton Roberts became a freedman in Caldwell County, Texas, at the close of the Civil War. He soon moved west to this area and the settlement that developed around his farm became known as Peyton Colony. In 1874, under the direction of the Rev. Jack Burch, residents of the community established the Mt. Horeb Baptist Church. Early worship services were held in a log building also used as a school. Since the reconstruction era, Mt. Horeb has served as a focal point for the community and for a widespread rural area. (1988)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park — 12 mi
  The Johnson City district of the national park: the Victorian house where Lyndon Johnson grew up, and the stone barns his grandfather built in the Johnson Settlement.
• Pedernales Falls State Park — 13 mi
  The Pedernales stepping down over layered limestone east of Johnson City, a river that can turn from a placid stream to a torrent in minutes.
• Lyndon B. Johnson State Park and Historic Site — 21 mi
  A state park on the Pedernales opposite the LBJ Ranch, with a working Texas-German farm kept as it was around the First World War and the permit desk for the ranch tour.
• Luckenbach — 27 mi
  A store, saloon and dance hall on Grape Creek that a humorist bought in 1971, declared a free state of mind, and turned into a pilgrimage for Texas music.

More markers nearby

• Peyton Colony (Board House) — steps away
• Thomas C. and Eliza V. Felps — 5.4 mi
• Amenthal — 6.6 mi
• Jesse L. McCrocklin — 6.8 mi