Smiley United Methodist Church

The railroad that drew the congregation north arrived in 1905, when the Galveston, Harrisburg and San Antonio built along the north edge of town and the business district shifted toward the new depot. Smiley incorporated in 1911, the same year a fire devastated it. By the 1920s about 600 people lived here, and in the 1930s and 1940s the town became a poultry-processing center. The population peaked at 697 in 1950 and fell to 495 by 1964. The railroad line was discontinued about 1970.

What the plaque says

Smiley United Methodist Church Methodists in the Smiley area gathered for informal worship services as early as 1879. In 1885 a congregation, originally known as the Bundick Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, was organized with about six charter families. The Rev. W. H. Killough served as the church's first itinerate pastor. Later, Rancho circuit and other preachers held services at the Smiley church one a month. The congregation first met in the Bundick Schoolhouse, a two-story wooden structure also used for Lone Star Masonic Lodge meetings. The Smiley community moved closer to the railroad after the tracks were laid in 1906, and the Methodist congregation built a one-room sanctuary in the new townsite in 1907. It served the fellowship until the current structure was completed and dedicated in 1948. Members of the Smiley United Methodist Church generally have come from farming and ranching families. Over the years they have provided significant service and leadership to the community and have continued to uphold the ideals and traditions of the founders. (1985)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Old Smiley Lake and Townsite — 0.5 mi
• First Baptist Church of Nixon — 7.4 mi
• Community of Pilgrim — 7.4 mi
• Pilgrim Presbyterian Church — 7.5 mi