Wesley Chapel - Van Zandt County, TX
N 32° 33.859 W 096° 00.002
14S E 781667 N 3606960
A modern chapel building stands on the grounds in front of the historic Wesley Chapel Cemetery, on Van Zandt County Rd 2120, northeast of Watkins in rural Van Zandt County, TX.
Waymark Code: WM1230Y
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 02/13/2020
Views: 5
This building is a replacement for a tabernacle that grew long in the tooth. It's a modern building, serviceable at best, with no frills either inside or out. The real scenery is down in the beautiful cemetery to the left. A 1997 Texas Historical Marker in front of the chapel provides some background:
The Watkins community was settled in the mid-1800s. M. Crosby and his wife Isabell Crosby deeded land for a church and cemetery to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1872. The first recorded burial in this cemetery is that of John I. Sewell, who was buried on the site in 1870 before it was officially designated as a cemetery.
A new Wesley Chapel Methodist Church was built near the Watkins school in 1922 on land deeded by Thomas G. and Carrie Barfield. They, along with early church trustees O.M. Norman, S.A. Sewell, Sr., and H.L. Paschall are buried here. A new frame chapel was built at the cemetery in 1957 by local residents.
The five-acre cemetery contains about 400 graves. Among those interred here are more than 50 young children and infants, some of whom were buried with their mothers who died in childbirth. Also buried here are veterans of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II.
The Wesley Chapel Cemetery Association maintains the site and hosts annual reunions with memorial services and picnics for descendants of pioneer settlers. The cemetery remains in use and continues to serve the area as it has for more than a century.
Date of Chapel Construction: 1957
Denomination of Chapel or Cemetery (if applicable): None
Active Chapel?: yes
Main Construction Material of Chapel: Wood
Description of Cemetery added in Long Description: yes
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