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The community of Monticello dates from the 1850s and was named for Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia. The government awarded a post office on May 5, 1857, with Cicero J. Corder as the first postmaster. Theodore Stiewig, a later postmaster, operated a steam mill which was the largest business in the community. The settlement remained small, and in the 1890s Monticello had stores, blacksmiths, two mills, two gins, a brick factory and a school. The community historically supported Monticello Baptist and Spring Hill churches. Minutes of the area Rehoboth Baptist Association first reference Monticello Baptist Church in 1878. That year, E. Blanton was pastor and J.W. Barrow and E.Y. Bynum were messengers to the association meeting. The church first met on Bynum's land, and in 1919 the congregation moved here, on one acre sold by W.P. and Stella Jones. A new church building was erected soon after. The wood frame sanctuary is a cross-gabled T-plan building with paired double-hung wood windows and shiplap wood siding. Congregation members donated pine trees, hauled by mule-drawn wagons to Will Taylor's planing mill to saw into lumber. About 19 members worked on the church and construction took three months to finish, being completed in November 1919. The church has been a spiritual and social center for the community since its founding. During the 1950s, church members sewed quilts donated to the Texarkana Baptist Orphanage and the Lena Pope Home for Orphans in Fort Worth. By the early 21st century, area land was being used for recreational lakes and lignite mining, and the church was one of few historic resources remaining in Monticello. The congregation remains active although church services are held infrequently. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 2007 |
