Purmela Baptist Church

Purmela's name comes with a story. The Handbook of Texas says storeowner Martin Dremien founded the place and became postmaster when the post office was granted in 1879. According to one local source, he wanted to name it for his sweetheart, Furmela, but the postal service made a mistake. He is said to have sold his store and moved to another state. The Purmela school district formed in 1901 by consolidating the Basham, Sycamore and Evergreen schools, and it later merged into the Gatesville district. By 1970 about forty people lived there.

What the plaque says

Purmela Baptist Church This congregation traces its history to 1886, when the Rev. W. M. Blakely and ten charter members organized the Basham Baptist Church in the old Basham School Building at the Smith Cemetery (ca. 1.7 Mi. S). Basham Baptist Church merged with Salem Baptist Church (also known as Round Valley Baptist Church) in 1901, and the new consolidated congregations built a sanctuary at Cravey Crossing on Cowhouse Creek (ca. 2 mi SW). The church's name was changed to Cravey Crossing Baptist Church. Worship services were held once a month, and baptismal services were conducted in the creek. In 1927, after the congregation voted to relocate to this site, the Cravey Crossing Church building was dismantled and rebuilt here by volunteers. The name was changed to Purmela Baptist Church when construction was completed in 1928, and soon worship services were conducted weekly. Throughout its history, this church has served members in a large rural area. The church facilities have been enlarged over the years to serve the growing congregation, which continues to maintain many of its historic traditions. (1991)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hamilton County Courthouse — 18 mi
  A limestone courthouse of 1886-87 on the Hamilton square, built after the county's 1878 courthouse burned, enlarged in the early 1930s and rededicated in 2012 after restoration.
• Bosque Museum — 30 mi
  A Clifton museum holding what it calls the largest repository of Norwegian artifacts in the South and Southwest, with Bosque County finds some 10,000 years old and a log cabin built by the Olson family.

More markers nearby

• Site of the Ireland School — 6.2 mi
• Pearl School — 6.4 mi
• Pearl Methodist Church — 6.5 mi
• Pearl Baptist Church — 6.6 mi