I Brake For Historical Markers

How many Methodists can you pack into 256 square feet?

Log Cabin in Chico Texas

I guess that was the question back in the early 1870’s, because this log cabin served as the first place of worship for area Methodists in Chico, Texas (Wise County). The tiny cabin was created from half-notched, rough-hewn, oak logs and, according to the historical marker in front of it, has an interior loft. I didn’t get to go inside, because the cabin was locked up tighter than a drum, so I don’t know for sure. Was that loft for the choir? It must have been a small congregation.

I can’t even imagine being jammed with my neighbors into a teeny little space like this one, with no air conditioning, on a sunny Texas day. Especially not to hear the preacher drone! Folks didn’t use deodorant back then, either — I’d definitely be praying for deliverance.

This cabin also served as a schoolhouse, and later as a home — with a lot of rooms added to it. In 1987, it got restored to its original look.

Y’all, I wouldn’t have even seen this log cabin nestled in the trees if I hadn’t taken one of those “Scenic Routes” I told you about. OK … really I was lost, but so what? One of the reasons that those tiny country roads call to me is that I might find a “treasure” on them. Trust me, you don’t want to tail-gate me when I drive on those roads. I brake for “historical markers.”

Right next to that log cabin was another historical structure, and this one made me sad.

The Brown Hotel in Chico Texas

It’s called “The Brown Hotel,” not because folks were colorblind (you can see and I can see that it was once painted red). It took it’s name from Colonel J. T. Brown, who founded Chico in 1876 and built this hotel in 1888. I can’t fathom that Chico was once large enough to support a hotel, but I suppose it was.

I think this hotel’s “claim to fame” was that the governor of the state in 1895 had a ceremony on the porch to pardon J.T. Brown for his part in a fight fatality (again, that’s what it says on the marker). I guess they couldn’t book the state capitol for the event.

Another view of the Brown Hotel

The structure got a historical marker back in 1969, but it is just slowly falling to ruin. I think that’s a shame, but I guess there isn’t a lot of money in restoring old buildings.

My friend, and fellow blogger, Robin is probably giggling about our ideas of “historic” buildings. She regularly visits Jerusalem’s “Old City” and takes fabulous pictures of the buildings there. In the Old City, a structure that is only 140 years old would get laughed off of the block. I’m not even going to tell her that in Kilgore I saw houses that “deserved” markers because they were built in 1947!

Here in Texas buildings like those above date to the earliest settlement of the area. If we could take care of them, several hundred years from now they might be worthy of note!

Related posts:

1. Alien Buried at Aurora?
2. Lampasas, Texas. The Name Stuck With Me.
3. Roaming Around Rhome
4. The Haunted Driskill Hotel in Black and White
5. Off To See The Wizard Wells

Tagged as: Chico Texas, hotel, log cabin, My Neck Of The Woods, photographs, photos, Prairies and Lakes