New Hope Baptist Church - St. Elmo, TX
N 31° 56.395 W 096° 11.189
14R E 765972 N 3537232
The New Hope Baptist Church is at 581 FM 416, St. Elmo, TX.
Waymark Code: WM11G8B
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/19/2019
Views: 2
While the church's mailing address is out of Streetman, TX, they are nearly nine miles from there, and the closest community after that is Winkler, nearly a mile-and-a-half away. The
Handbook of Texas Online indicates that the church sanctuary was built in 1922, while the 1974 Texas Historical Marker on the grounds mentions a 1954 remodel. The approximate date of their establishment is in big letters on the sanctuary, and over time, they've added more building space and a nice playground out in the back.
The church has an active Facebook page (see Website, below), and the historical marker provides some history of the St. Elmo community, this church, and the St. Elmo Cemetery behind it:
This locality was settled about 1849 by pioneers from Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Cotton and corn plantations thrived. A school was opened in the 1850s, but closed during the Civil War (1861-65). A site on the centrally-situated Manning land grant became a public burial ground. Earliest documented grave is that of J.W. Darden, who died in 1869.
The Little Hope Baptist Church was organized in the community in Aug. 1872, by a Freestone County missionary, the Rev. J.M. Gambrell, who served as the first pastor, with R.B. Anderson as church clerk.
In 1875 a schoolhouse was built near the burial ground on the Manning grant. The school was called "St. Elmo", probably for a popular 19th century novel. The Baptist held services in the schoolhouse until 1886; then they adopted "New Hope" as the church name, bought a 6-acre tract that included the cemetery and school grounds, and built a church. Present sanctuary, which replaced that original building, was remodeled in 1954. St. Elmo Cemetery Association administers the affairs of the cemetery, which now (1974) contains about 850 graves.