Jermyn, Texas. (original) (raw)
Jermyn First Methodist Church Closed
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, 2010
History in a Pecan Shell
Jermyn 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.
Jermyn First Methodist Church Historical Marker
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, 2010
Historical Marker:
First Methodist Church, Jermyn, Texas
Organized 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
Photographer's Visit in 2010
From "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
First Methodist Church Interior
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, April 2010
 |
The volunteer fire department in Jermyn Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson, 2005 |
|---|---|
The closed First Methodist Church in 2005
Photo courtesy Barclay Gibson
Jermyn, Texas Forum
- Subject: 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
Jack County 1920s map showing Jermyn
near Young County
From Texas state map #10749
Courtesy Texas General Land Office
Texas Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories, landmarks and recent or vintage photos, please contact us.