Prairie Chapel

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Promotion: Nearby Map of McClennan County

Prairie Chapel is a tiny rural community located about twelve miles west of Waco in the western corner of McLennan County. The area was settled by the late 1800s, and in January 1884 the town and vicinity received their own rural school district. Settlement increased in the 1880s when the Heinrich Engelbrecht family established their home on approximately sixteen hundred acres near the town. As their farm grew by several thousand acres the Engelbrechts advertised opportunities for tenant farming to German immigrants who came to the area. Canaan Baptist Church was organized, and members held services in the Prairie Chapel schoolhouse into the 1890s, when a church building was constructed on land donated by Heinrich Engelbrecht. By the 1930s highway maps showed numerous farms, the school, the Baptist church, and a cemetery in the area. During this time Prairie Chapel's baseball team gained a reputation as among the best in the region. By the second half of the twentieth century the school was consolidated with the Crawford Independent Rural High School District. No population estimates were available until 2000 when the community reported thirty-five residents.

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Laurie E. Jasinski | © TSHA

Handbook of Texas Logo

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

Belongs to

Prairie Chapel is part of or belongs to the following places:

Currently Exists

Yes

Place type

Prairie Chapel is classified as a Town

Location

Latitude: 31.56321810
Longitude: -97.56001810

Has Post Office

No

Is Incorporated

No

Population Count, 2009

35