McNeil, Texas, Caldwell County. (original) (raw)

History in a Pecan Shell

NcNeil is on Farm Road 1322 five miles northeast of Luling in southern Caldwell County. The McNeil Creek Baptist Church was established there in June 1888. In 1905 the community had a one-teacher school for fifty-seven White students and a one-teacher school for forty-five Black students. The McNeil schools were consolidated with the Luling Independent School District in 1948. The church in McNeil reported a membership of 200 in 1983. A church and cemetery marked the location of McNeil on county highway maps in the late 1980s. The population remained at 200 through 2000.Vivian Elizabeth Smyrl, "McNeil, TX (Caldwell County)," Handbook of Texas Online, accessed January 30, 2021, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/mcneil-tx-caldwell-county

Historical Marker: (14304 FM 1322)

McNeil Baptist Church

Led by the Rev. B.F. Dixon of the San Marcos Baptist Association, members of the McNeil Creek Community met on June 30, 1888, to organize a local congregation. The name chosen was McNeil Creek Baptist Church, and the congregation began to hold worship services in a local schoolhouse. R.W. King was elected church clerk, a position he held for the next twenty-two years.

As the church began to grow, a need was recognized for a permanent home. A building committee was formed which began raising funds in 1895. Samuel McCarley donated two acres of land to the church on February 2, 1896, and by November of that year a sanctuary was completed. In 1908 the church name was shortened to McNeil Baptist Church. A large tabernacle was added to the south side of the church which provided space for Sunday school and revivals until it and the original church structure were removed from the property. A new building was completed by August 9, 1947. To further serve the growing congregation, an annex was added onto the west end of the auditorium in 1952.

The McNeil Baptist Church has continued to serve residents of a large rural area for over a century.

(1988)

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Historical Marker: ( from Luling, take FM 1322 E/NE 5 miles to CR 302, then west 0.5 on CR 302)

McNeil Cemetery

(Soda Springs Methodist Cemetery)
This cemetery was founded on land deeded to the Soda Springs Methodist Church about 1867 by early settler Margret Hinds. The first recorded burial was that of Henrietta Gant in 1868. The cemetery was first known as Soda Springs Methodist Cemetery but was renamed McNeil Cemetery sometime before Soda Springs Methodist Church disbanded in 1919. Among the more than 390 grave sites in the cemetery are many of the area's early settlers and their descendants. The cemetery is maintained by an association and continues to serve the McNeil community.
Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995
1994

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