Boling United Methodist Church
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H A R T O N C O U N T Y |
Marker No.14496
Aluminum 27 x 42 Subject Marker
Geographic:
Location: 607 Texas Avenue, Boling
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Marker Text: Prior to 1900, Boling was known as Floyd's Lane. In 1903, land developers R.E. Vineyard and R.B. Huston purchased a tract alongside a new branch of the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway. They platted a new town and named it "Bolling" after a Vineyard family ancestor. The name changed to Boling in 1928, when the application for a post office was named with a spelling error.
Boling had been nearly inaccessible except by rail, but the discovery of oil, gas and sulphur in 1925 brought hundreds of new residents. Although Boling was then only a muddy tent city, local families with the help of the numerous area drilling companies, built a one-room ecumenical church in 1927. The Union Church held its first organized service that December for Christmas. The next year, 28 members of Union Church chose to affiliate with the Methodist denomination and the Rev. D.E. Sneller served as the congregation's first pastor. In 1950, with facilities in need of repair, the congregation purchased the former sanctuary of Holy Cross Catholic Church of Bay City, moving it to this location. The building designed in 1907 by noted architect Nicholas Clayton, lost its original bell tower in the 1920s. Although the Boling congregation replaced the second bell tower with a smaller spire in 1951, the original stained glass windows remain intact. Over the years, declining area population has impacted church membership, and local congregations have consolidated and shared pastors, but the small Boling congregation continues to serve the local community through programs and worship, and to commemorate the congregation's history through research and projects. (2003) |