We say “ordinarily” because FM 107 is in the throes of some serious construction work right now, which takes away some of its scenic ambience and makes the hidden history of the area even more hidden. The best known scenic attraction on FM 107 - Mother Neff State Park - is closed now due to high water.
One of the few remaining structures from the first days of Anglo settlement in Coryell County is the Eagle Springs Baptist Church. The old building - the current “old building” - was built in 1878, though the church itself was founded in 1858.
The old church building has been put in serious jeopardy by a strong storm - possibly a tornado - which hit the building in March.
For a time it looked like the building would finally meet its demise but a determined group of people are on the verge of resurrecting the building and preserving the history it represents.
Martha Deeringer has been one of the prime instigators in trying to keep the church as a visual, physical reminder of the area’s past. It’s not your typical 19th century Central Texas church building.
This one has cypress siding. The cypress wood was shipped from Galveston and fastened with square nails. You don’t see that too often around here.
It’s one of the few old churches that has two front doors - one for the men to enter and the other for women.
Women entered the church through the door on the right and sat on that side of the church. Mrs. Deeringer said. Men entered on the left. The men often had rifles across their lap during services, because attacks from Comanches were not just possible, but expected.
Homer Perryman, the state’s county historical commissioner, agrees that the church is unique.
“Old cypress churches with separate doors for men and women are historically valuable,” he says. “There is a lot of interest today among young people in getting married in an historic church. It would be a shame to lose the old building.”
Noah and Isabella Elanor Neff, parents of future Texas governor Pat Neff, helped build the old church back in the day when Eagle Springs was a thriving community.
Today, the church is about all that’s left of the community, and it was all but lost in March.
For years church members held an annual homecoming to raise money to keep the church up and operating.
Since then, volunteers have worked to protect the church from the ravages of time. Wooden shutters, glass windows and electrical wiring have been added.
The church was out of service for several years but reopened in 2000. As membership grew, a new church building was constructed and the old church was moved to the rear of the church property and stacked on a rock foundation.
The March storm made short work of the new arrangement.
In the storm’s aftermath it looked like the church would be reduced to, in Mrs. Deeringer’s words, “a pile of old cypress planks and square nails.”
Like a death row prisoner that gets a last–minute reprieve from the governor, the old Eagle Springs Baptist Church got a new lease on life in late July when the new Eagle Springs Baptist Church agreed to donate the old building to the community.
Mrs. Deeringer plans to have the church removed to her property, which borders church property, but first it has to be repaired to the point where it can survive the short haul.
“It will still be in sight of the old church,” she said. “People who’ve received spiritual guidance there in the past will still be able to see it.”
It’s hard to separate the history of the church from the history of Coryell County, a significant bit of it taking place along that stretch of FM 107.
Isabella Elanor Neff donated the first six acres for what would become Mother Neff State Park in 1915. She died in 1921, the same year that her son Pat became governor. As head of the state parks board in the 1930s, Neff donated the rest of the land the park sits on today.
A few miles from Eagle Springs is the site of another old community, Station Creek, which was named for the creek that runs from about 12 miles east of Gatesville to its mouth on the Leon River, a mile west of Mother Neff park.
Like the Leon River in Mother Neff, the creek has been prone to flooding since the construction of Belton Lake in 1954.
As you drive closer to Gatesville on 107 you pass the old community of Cavitt, which was named for Andrew Cavitt. He and James Coryell, for whom the county is named, staked claims near the headwaters of what is now known as Coryell Creek.
When you get to Post Oak Hill you are near the original site of Fort Gates, a short–lived fortress built to protect settlers from Indian attacks.
A few miles farther and you are in Gatesville.
In that 14–mile stretch you have traveled past more than 150 years of Central Texas history, most likely without even knowing it.
If Mrs. Deeringer and the dozen or so other people dedicated to preserving the old Eagle Springs Baptist Church have their way, you will still be able to see at least a part of that history.
The group is accepting donations to pay for the cost of putting the building back together and moving it.
Anyone interested in donating to the cause can do so by mailing donations to The Historical Eagle Springs Association, c/o Oglesby State Bank, P.O. Box 127, Oglesby 76561.
copppedge@temple-telegram.com
