Forest Grove

Forest Grove, often called Damascus by local residents, was about four miles northwest of Mount Pleasant in northwestern Titus County. Its first building was a log house that served as a church and school. Although the land had been donated for that purpose in 1868, the building was not constructed until sometime around 1880. The structure was called Damascus Church, and Damascus seems to have been the earliest name for the community. The only business known to have operated in the settlement was a country store owned and run by Jess Chapman. The school, which by 1910 was called Forest Grove, was maintained until 1956, when it was consolidated with the Mount Pleasant Independent School District. By 1971 the only building left in the community was a church that held no regular services but that was maintained to provide funeral services for those to be buried in the local cemetery.