Tioga United Methodist Church

Olan Van Zandt lost the sight of one eye as a child to a slingshot projectile; years later a broken stick hit the other. He attended a school for the blind, then college and law school, and a local page calls him one of the first blind people to receive a law degree. Born at Tioga in 1896 into a Shiloh Methodist family, he practiced law there, then in Sherman. The page records legislative service from 1926 to 1942, beginning in the House, and a Senate seat in 1934. He died in Sherman in 1985.

What the plaque says

Tioga United Methodist Church Services began in homes of the Shiloh community, two miles to the east of here. In 1887, the worshipers organized the Shiloh Methodist Church, with the Rev. Mr. Allen as pastor. After Tioga was founded, the congregation moved here and erected original building on this site in 1893. Additional rooms and facilities have since been added to the central structure. This church has faithfully served Tioga. One of its members, Olan R. Van Zandt, was a representative, then senator, in the Texas Legislature for 16 years, 1926-1942. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Great Hanging Memorial — 17 mi
  Two granite monuments in a Gainesville park, dedicated in 2014, for the Cooke County men the Confederate militia hanged in October 1862 on suspicion of Unionism.
• Hagerman National Wildlife Refuge — 21 mi
  A 1946 refuge on the Big Mineral Arm of Lake Texoma, laid over land bought for Denison Dam and the site of the vanished railroad town of Hagerman, now a winter stop for geese.
• Denton County Courthouse-on-the-Square — 22 mi
  An 1896 courthouse by W. C. Dodson in Denton limestone, pink granite and two sandstones, restored in 2004, now a free county museum on a lawn holding the grave of John B. Denton.
• Heard Natural Science Museum & Wildlife Sanctuary — 28 mi
  A 289-acre sanctuary in McKinney that Bessie Heard founded at the age of 80, with five habitats, a 50-acre wetland and 6.5 miles of trails.

More markers nearby

• Primitive Baptist Church of Tioga — steps away
• City of Pilot Point — 5.6 mi
• Hiram Lodge No. 433, A. F. & A. M. — 6.3 mi
• Mountain Springs School — 7.5 mi