Harmony Community Church - Stewards Mill, TX
N 31° 49.301 W 096° 12.218
14R E 764688 N 3524077
The historic Harmony Church was a union church when it began life in 1876, but today, there is a simple non-denominational service every Sunday at 8 AM. The church is just south of the intersection of FM 833 on FM 2547 in Stewards Mill.
Waymark Code: WM162DH
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 04/19/2022
Views: 1
A 1965 Texas Historical Marker notes the sanctuary as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and provides a few sound bytes:
Stewards Mill people -- Bonners, McCrerys, Watsons, Robinsons, Stewards, others -- after 20 years of worship in homes in 1876 built for all faiths Harmony Church.
Texas Presbytery, A.R.P., was founded here Dec. 9, 1876.
A second Texas Historical Marker, issued much later despite its 1965 date, adds depth to the original narrative:
This historic sanctuary is one of the oldest church buildings in Freestone County. People of the Stewards Mill community held church services in private homes or in the schoolhouse prior to its construction. On Oct. 7, 1876, the Awalts, Bonners, Robinsons, Stewards, Watsons and others met to form an organization to erect a church building to be used by different denominations on different days. On Dec. 9, 1876, Rev. Thomas Joel Bonner preached the first sermon in the newly built church, and afterwards the Texas Presbytery of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church organized here. The front-gabled rectangular plan church features board and batten siding and paired entry doors with transom lights.
USGenWeb has some interesting details, noting the pews are original, and that the Presbyterians used the sanctuary two Sundays a month while the Baptists and Methodist split the remaining two. Despite the change in denominations and the person in the pulpit, the congregations remained virtually the same from Sunday to Sunday. Services ended in 1954, but it's not clear whether all three denominations quit at the same time.
The church has an active presence on Facebook (see below). Stewards Mill itself dates to the 1840s, and the 1869 store that was the longtime center of the community is nearby, derelict but still recognizable as an old store. Generally noted as a ghost town, Stewards Mill today is a quiet rural community of maybe a few dozen people. The Stewards Mill Cemetery is right behind the church, and you'll find the community namesake, George Washington Steward, buried there with his family and descendants.