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CEDAR LANE, TEXAS Matagorda
County, Texas
Gulf Coast
Where FM 457 meets FM 521
On Caney Creek
20 Miles
SE of Bay City
Population: 0055 (2000) |
Shiloh Missionary Cemetery
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Cedar Lane History
in a Pecan ShellThe
original settlement began around a store along a path bordered with a “lane” of
cedars. The Texas and New Orleans Railroad made the community a stop on its line
and by 1912 they had been granted their own post office.
The population
was a mere 25 people in 1914, but it didn’t stop them from getting connected with
telephone service. By the 1930s the town had a paved road and two businesses as
well as a church and school.
Prior to WWII,
the town had an estimated population of 50 and after WWII,
the Cedar Lane school merged with the Van Vleck ISD. By the late 1960s the population
had swelled to 57 residents and for the 1990 census it had reached a new record
of 85 citizens, dropping back to 55 for the 2000 census.
A
Visit to Cedar Lane: |
Shiloh
Missionary Baptist Church
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Shiloh
Missionary Baptist Church historical marker
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 |
Historical Marker
Text
Shiloh
Missionary Baptist ChurchFollowing
Emancipation in 1865, freedmen and women established the Shiloh Missionary Baptist
Church near Caney Creek in 1866. Instrumental in the church formation were the
Reverend Dennis Grey (1814-1879), secretary John Alexander Sidney (1842-1928)
and many charter members.
The first church building was erected on land
from the A.C. Buckner League purchased by the Reverend Mr. Gray and donated to
the church. The building also served as a community school with an enrollment
of about 100 pupils. A cemetery was established in the 1870s near the church and
contains the graves of church and community members.
A storm in 1909 destroyed
the original church building, and a second church was constructed. A bell dating
from 1856 given to the church by the community was hung in the belfry of the new
church. In 1970 a new sanctuary was constructed on land donated by the Van Vleck
School district. Auxiliary facilities were added as the congregation grew.
Continuing
a long history of service and community outreach, the church was a site of refuge
during Hurricane
Carla in 1961. The church remains an integral part of the area as it has for
more than 130 years. |
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"No
Big Truck Parking" either
Photo courtesy Barclay
Gibson, February 2009 | |
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