Oak Island Methodist Church and Cemetery

Oak Island lay on the Medina River off State Highway 16, fifteen miles south of downtown San Antonio. Its first church was Presbyterian, founded by J. Limber in 1847 and abandoned in 1875, when many residents moved away to Mexia. DeVilbiss established a Methodist mission there in 1878. In the late 1940s the settlement still had a church and a school, but by the 1960s maps no longer showed Oak Island. The community later began to grow again, and the United Methodist church remained in operation in 1999, after the school had closed.

What the plaque says

Oak Island Methodist Church and Cemetery with Grave of the Reverend John Wesly DeVilbliss (1818-1885) Circuit rider DeVilbiss came to Republic of Texas in 1842 to minister on Hispanic borders in the southwest. He pioneered among immigrants and native Texians to promote harmony in varied cultures in this far outpost. In County Clerk's office in April 1844 he delivered first sermon in English ever given in San Antonio--to lay foundations for confluence of civilizations. Insipred organization of Oak Island Church, 1867 or '68. This building of 1872 holds furniture made by DeVilbiss and his son. (1967)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Mission Espada and the Espada Aqueduct — 9.1 mi
  The southernmost San Antonio mission and the oldest Spanish aqueduct in the United States, still carrying river water over Sixmile Creek to the fields after nearly three centuries.
• Mission San Juan — 9.6 mi
  The mission near the river bend where the San Antonio got its name in 1691, with an unfinished church foundation and farm fields still watered by an eighteenth-century acequia.
• San Antonio Missions National Historical Park — 10 mi
  Four working parish churches on the Mission Trail south of downtown, with the visitor center at Mission San Jose, the Queen of the Missions, and the descendants who still worship there.
• Mission Concepción — 12 mi
  A stone church dedicated in 1755 that has never fallen into ruin, its convento ceilings still painted, and the ground where the Texas Revolution's fight for San Antonio began.

More markers nearby

• The Rev. John Wesley DeVilbiss — steps away
• Ruiz-Herrera Cemetery — 4.1 mi
• Rambie-Lewis Family Cemetery — 5.5 mi
• Spanish and Mexican Land Grants — 5.6 mi