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Jermyn First Methodist Church Closed
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo
courtesy Barclay
Gibson, 2010 |
History in
a Pecan ShellJermyn
got off to a late start and has no 19th century history. Born in 1902 and named
after J. J. Jermyn, son of a Pennsylvania coal magnate, the town is one of Jack
County's last towns to appear. Cattlemen Oliver Loving and W. P. Stewart were
the men who donated the townsite.
In 1909 the Gulf, Texas and Western
Railroad arrivied and by the 1920s the town had the basic institutions for banking,
schooling and commerce and a population just over 200. According to the Handbook
of Texas the population mysteriously swelled to 1,066 by 1968 but has since
declined to the figure of 75 - the same number that appeared for the 1990 and
2000 census. |
Photographer's
Visit in 2010From
"Ignoring
Warning Signs":
"We came into the small town of Jermyn,
and Walter said there was an old church off to the south. I had already seen the
church on a previous trip, but I would like to see it again. We saw the old closed
and abandoned church, slowly deteriorating. I took several pictures of the outside
and noticed one of the panels of the front door missing. He wanted to go in.
The
sanctuary looked just like it did when the last service ended. Everything was
same except for the accumulating water damage from the leaky roof. The people
just left and never came back. The song books were still in the pews; the piano
was still behind the pulpit, and the Sunday School materials looked ready to be
handed out. It is a sobering thought about what is happening all over the country
to small town America." - Barclay
Gibson, 2010 |
Jermyn First Methodist Church Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, 2010 |
Historical
Marker TextFirst
Methodist Church, Jermyn, TexasOrganized
November 24, 1909, by the Rev. L. D. Shawver, pastor, in first house built in
Jermyn - home of Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Jones.
The original trustees were
J. D. Gillespie, H. T. Jinks, and W. T. Jones.
This church (first in area)
was built 1910 on present site, 1st Avenue and Wise Street.
Recorded
Texas Historic Landmark, 1968. |
First Methodist Church Interior
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2010 |
| | The
volunteer fire department in Jermyn
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, 2005 | |
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The closed First Methodist Church in 2005
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson |
Jermyn,
Texas ForumSubject:
Jermyn, Texas Methodist Church
My name is Ann Rankin Ordonez. I wonder
[if any of your readers know] who owns the church property at this time. I had
considered trying to buy and restore it. Probably wishful thinking, but worth
checking out. I am really tired of the big city. I graduated from Antelope in
1958. I was there and in Jermyn in June of this year with cousins. We all grew
up in the area. Their Dad, Eddie Owen ran for sherif of Jack County, I think in
1956 or 57 but lost. He owned an oil-well servicing company in Jacksboro. I wrote
you another time about my Mom who wrote the Pops Eatin column for one of the Jacksboro
papers. - Ann Rankin, Tomball, Texas, Arankin1940@aol.com , September 20, 2006 |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history and vintage/historic
photos of their town, please contact
us. | |
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