Rock Church

Rock Church is off Farm Road 2475, close to the Hood-Erath county line and the Paluxy River in Hood County. The first White settlers began to arrive in the mid-1800s. In 1859 land was donated by the Jesse Caraway family, and soon the inhabitants of the territory collectively built a rock church, which functioned as a church, school, and community center. It was said that the community did not develop because the Rock Church settlement was directly on an Indian route to Comanche Peak. In 1874 the rock building became the Masonic meetingplace. Not until 1906 was another church built; the new structure, though made of white clapboard, retained the name Rock Church. It was used until the 1970s by Methodists. The building was purchased by an individual in 1976 and subsequently renovated as a private residence. In 1917 community members again combined their efforts and built a swinging bridge across the Paluxy River. Traffic on the bridge was usually pedestrians or horse-and-buggy rigs, although an occasional automobile passed over it. Rock Church never had a post office. The current population consists of farmers and ranchers. The bridge and the church buildings are landmarks not open to the public.

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.