Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church

Wayman Chapel belongs to a denomination that grew fast after emancipation. The Handbook of Texas says the African Methodist Episcopal Church founded Paul Quinn College in Austin in 1872, organized the West Texas Conference in 1875 and the Central Texas Conference in 1883, and counted 23,000 Texas members by 1890 and 34,000 by 1926, second only to the Baptists among Black churchgoers. The Handbook adds that the church helped Black Texans keep a sense of community and gave them a place to voice demands for civil rights.

What the plaque says

Wayman Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church Named for African Methodist Episcopal Church Bishop Alexander W. Wayman, this congregation was organized I n1880 by area residents, many of whom moved here from the community of Telico. Dr. C.A. Harris, a physician, served as pastor in the early 1900s. In 1905, under his leadership, the church moved from a site known as Biggins Hill to its current location. Over the years, the church has had a strong impact on its local community. The congregation has served the town through a variety of ways, and continues to support the community. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ellis County Courthouse — 13 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.
• Petroleum Industry Park — 19 mi
  The pipes and drilling tower mark where a city water well struck oil on June 9, 1894, the start of the first Texas field to produce oil and gas in important quantities.
• Cedar Ridge Preserve — 29 mi
  A 633-acre Audubon Dallas preserve at the western edge of Dallas County, with about nine miles of trails through prairie, woodland and escarpment hills.

More markers nearby

• Frederick Harrison Rankin — 0.3 mi
• Jack Lummus — 0.4 mi
• Burnam Square and Cemetery — 0.5 mi
• Jay Justin Clarke — 0.7 mi