Rome Church - Shady Oaks, TX
N 32° 06.813 W 095° 53.341
15S E 227403 N 3556677
The Rome Church is located near Shady Oaks, in the old Corinth/Rome community about eight miles southwest of Athens across from the Rome Cemetery on Henderson County Rd 1109.
Waymark Code: WMZF13
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/31/2018
Views: 2
Texas has multiple communities by the name of "Corinth", and this one also went by the name of "Rome". Some maps show the church as the "Corinth Church". A nearby sign indicates that the cemetery was established in 1921, but it makes no indication about the church or its congregation. A Texas Historical Marker across the road at the Rome Cemetery provides a little community history:
Settlers established the Corinth community (also known as Rome) in the late 1800s. A one-room schoolhouse was the first meeting place for the Corinth Primitive Baptist Church, organized in 1881. Foot washings were a tradition at the church, utilizing water from a nearby spring on Boyd family land. A.L. Boyd, C.R. Boyd and his wife Pearl donated two acres for Rome Cemetery in 1921. Neva "Nannie" (Chipley) Boyd (1877-1921) died in an accident on the way to church and was the first burial here. When the Rome School consolidated with Cross Roads Independent School District in 1935, the old schoolhouse was torn down and a new chapel was built. Today, this burial ground remains a chronicle of the pioneer Corinth (Rome) community.
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A 2008 article in the Athens Daily Review covered the church's having been hit by vandals -- one can still see some of the graffiti, bleeding through the white paint -- and while it's been some years now, the article mentioned that a congregation of about forty was meeting on Sundays. There are no signs in front of the church suggesting activity, though, and damage from the vandals to the adjacent tabernacle's kitchen remains unrepaired. The article also cites the Henderson County Historical Commission, also noting 1921 as the year of establishment.
A PDF copy of the article is available from me should the aforementioned link go bad.