Jerusalem Memorial
CME Church

Organized in 1845 and originally know as the Church on the Branch, the Jerusalem C.M.E. Church is the oldest black church of record in the state of Texas.

The first Church was a small one-room house with a round top which was also used for a school.

In 1870 when the Methodist Episcopal Church, South organized its black churches into a separate organization know as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, the little Church on the Branch was reorganized by the Rev. Sam Horton.

At that time the name of the Church was changed to Jerusalem C.M.E. Church. The church chose to remain a part of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South even after the end of the Civil War, when missionaries of the northern Methodist Episcopal Church and other independent bodies wanted the church to change its affiliation.

Local church history tells us that Morton Maples gave the lot where the Church is now located. Tradition also maintains that the building was first built there in 1882. The title to the present property was acquired from Morton Maples in 1889, and the property of the original site was sold on October 4, 1892 by Morton Maples, John Hall and J.M. Hightower, trustees of the CME Church of America.

Livingston & Goldenway
936-275-5533