Hope

Hope, at the intersection of State Highway 111 and U.S. Highway 77, six miles from Yoakum in southwestern Lavaca County, was named for Hope's trading post. The community was established before the Texas Revolution and is located in Precinct Four, the only dry area in the county. The town reached its height in population just before the Civil War. During the war 100 volunteers from Hope enlisted in the Confederate Army, but only seven returned. A Methodist church was started in 1845 in a log hut on Scarbrough's Branch with twenty-three German founding members. It was moved to a two-acre site on Clark's Creek donated by Christopher Hornberg in 1856; worship services were in German. Charles Martin Hornberg, a son of Christopher, was an ordained minister and served the church at one time. This Methodist church was established in Hope in 1889 with a membership of about 100; at that time it was the only church in the community. The Shiloh Baptist Church, established in 1885, was consolidated with the Mount Herman church; a building was erected at Hope in 1896, after which the church adopted the name of the town and became Hope Baptist Church.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.