Richardson Chapel United Methodist Church

Richardson Chapel's Northern connection shaped what its founders could own. Before emancipation, Black Methodists belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Afterward many left it, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, controlled by Northern whites, pursued them. Through its link to the Freedmen's Bureau it was able to secure title to church buildings, a real advantage for people who owned little property. It organized the Texas Conference in Houston in 1867 and claimed 7,934 Black members and fifty-one ministers by 1871. Its churches stayed mostly white, and Black ministers rose slowly, reaching the top only in the twentieth century.

What the plaque says

Richardson Chapel United Methodist Church The early members of the Richardson Chapel United Methodist Church were former slaves that attended the Methodist Episcopal Church of Hallettsville prior to emancipation. Freedom allowed these former slaves to form their own church, and they chose to do so under the guidance of the Methodist Episcopal Church. On January 10, 1882, five church trustees purchased 1.5 acres of land for sixty dollars for a permanent church home. Records for the church building indicate that the first structure was built prior to 1890 with Reverend Max Henderson as the first minister. The church has been affiliated with a Methodist Texas conference since 1874 and has been under the guidance of over fifty pastors. According to Southwest Texas Conference records, the membership totaled 80 in 1878 and, by 1885, had increased to 167. By 1900, the membership grew to almost 250. Other churches in the area were served by the Richardson Chapel minister. When transportation became less of an issue, several rural churches merged with Richardson Chapel. Originally, the church was named Methodist Episcopal Church until they hosted the annual conference in 1911, with Rev. L.R. Richardson attending. The congregation renamed the church in his honor. Many additions and alterations have been made over the years, including a new parsonage in 1890, 1908 and in the 1950s. The history of the Richardson Chapel United Methodist Church is the heritage of many Lavaca County citizens. From humble beginnings, the congregation of Richardson Chapel remains a beacon of light in the community. (2013)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lavaca County Courthouse — 0.6 mi
  A limestone Romanesque courthouse of 1897-99 on the square of a town founded by a widow trader, in a county seat that once printed the Socialist Party's state paper.
• Spoetzl Brewery — 13 mi
  The brewery a Czech and German railroad town started in a tin shed in 1909, run through Prohibition by a Bavarian who had brewed in Cairo, and then by his daughter.
• St. Mary's Church of the Assumption (Praha) — 17 mi
  The mother parish of the Czech settlements around Flatonia, a stone-fronted church of 1895 whose ceiling Gottfried Flury turned into a turquoise garden, with an August 15 feast since 1855.
• Nativity of Mary, Blessed Virgin Catholic Church (High Hill) — 18 mi
  A red brick Gothic Revival church of 1906 in a German farm settlement, where two San Antonio painters spent 1912 faking marble columns and stone vaults on wood.

More markers nearby

• American Legion Hudgeons Post 230 — steps away
• 50th Anniversary of Battle of Galveston — 0.6 mi
• First National Bank of Hallettsville — 0.6 mi
• Hallettsville — 0.6 mi