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Joy road sign
Photo courtesy Elicia Cook, 2014 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Once known as Fanninton,
Fannintown, or Fannin Town, it was named by transmigrating
settlers from Fannin
County in the early 1880s.
In 1881 a log cabin school was established as well as a Methodist
church. Gainesville was the community's
main source of supplies. In 1895 the town was granted their post
office and saw the opportunity to straighten out the variety of
names. They settled on Joy. The post office closed in the
1930s.
The population
was a mere 23 in 1914, rising to 37 in the 20s. In the early 40s
it reached 150 - a number that the town has evidently felt comfortable
with ever since.
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Joy United Methodist
Church historical marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, April 2009 |
Historical Marker:
Joy United
Methodist Church
The oldest church
in the Joy community, this congregation was chartered as a Methodist
Episcopal Church, South, in April 1881, when the settlements was known
as Fannin Town. The site of the organizational meeting, now
part of Joy Cemetery, was under an oak tree west of a log schoolhouse
where early services were held. The first sanctuary was built here
in 1891. From early camp meetings to the present programs of community
involvement, Joy United Methodist Church has been a vital force in
the surrounding rural area for over a century. |
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Joy, Texas
Forum
Subject: Life
and Time of a multi-generation family in Joy
"The internet is amazing isn't it! Have you looked at the pics of
Joy? If you do, notice the old white Methodist church building. My
grandparents were married and attended there for ever. My father,
brothers and I carried my grandmothers casket through those doors
in 1983. She, my grandfather, my brother and sister and many relatives
are buried about a hundred yards away in the Joy Cemetery.
The closed grocery was run by an OLD man named Astin, I remember him
clearly. My grandmother ran a wartime cannery and the local switch
board from that building. The grocery store is near the street corner
where during a blinding rainstorm my grandfather was accidentally
run over by a car driven by his lifetime best friend. Didn't kill
him but probably would have been better if it had.
When you stop and think that everyone has similar memories from all
over the globe it boggles the mind." - A reader in Tucson, AZ, September
17, 2017 |
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| 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. |
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