German immigrants settled in the area surrounding the junction of Langham and Bear creeks in the 1840s. Settlers traveled to nearby churches for Sunday services until about 1879 when seven charter members established the Bear Creek German Methodist Church. The congregation initially met in members' homes. The church was subsequently made a mission of the Rose Hill Methodist Church near Tomball.

In 1900 a small church building was erected near the Hillendahl Family Cemetery. The site proved to be poorly drained and often inaccessible, and in 1902 the congregation moved the sanctuary here on three acres donated by Fred and Katherine Brandt. A part of the acreage was laid out as a cemetery. Christine Backen's burial in 1904 was the first recorded here. The cemetery is still active and is maintained by the Addicks Bear Creek Cemetery Association.

A summer storm destroyed the sanctuary in 1915 but by the end of that year a new church building had been erected. Area flooding in 1935 resulted in the construction of the nearby Addicks Reservoir in 1940 and the subsequent removal of the church to another site about 1.7 miles south of here. The congregation changed its name to Addicks United Methodist Church in 1968.

Georgia native James G. Collier moved his extended family to this area in 1852. Collier settled in the Beech Creek community and established the area's first sawmill. This church was organized in Collier's home by 8 charter members on September 24, 1855. The congregation accepted both Anglos and African Americans into its membership. African American Henry Gainer was ordained as minister by the church in 1867. Early worship services were held in a local school building and baptism services were conducted in nearby Mill and Beech creeks. The church grew with the area and in 1892 the congregation erected its first sanctuary here on three acres donated by James Collier for church and cemetery purposes. Church membership continued to expand, and in 1905 a Sunday School was organized. An additional two acres of land were purchased in 1955, and in 1969 a new building was erected to house growing educational and recreational programs. The church called its first full-time pastor in 1995. Beech Creek Baptist Church has historically supported local and regional ministries and continues to serve the community with various programs and activities.

Named for Charles (1799-1847) and William Bent (1809-1869), famed for frontier trading with mountain men and "wild" Indians. As early as 1835 they came from their headquarters near present La Junta, Colorado, to trade with the Kiowas and Comanches along the Canadian River, in this vicinity. They built at least three posts along the river and tributary creeks; most permanent post was Fort Adobe, built 1843-1844. In the ruins of this fort (northeast of here) Kit Carson fought his last big Indian battle (1854), and buffalo hunters and Indians fought the Battle of Adobe Walls in 1874.

In an effort to establish a western trade route and expand Texas jurisdiction, Republic of Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar sent an expedition of merchants, along with a military escort, to Santa Fe in 1841.

The group left Brushy Creek north of Austin in June and in August arrived in this vicinity, where they established campsites at the confluence of the Los Lingos and Quitaque Creeks (1 mi.E). Traveling across unfamiliar territory, the expedition encountered numerous hardships. Provisions, food, and water were reduced to dangerously low levels, and bands of Kiowa Indians continually harrassed the group, killing some.

Facing the impassable ravines of the Caprock, the military commanders decided to divide the group. One party was sent to find New Mexican settlements and seek help, while the second remained. Commander Hugh McLeod drew up a resolution detailing the decision to split the command, and the site became known as Camp Resolution. Finally reaching New Mexico in September, the men were met by Mexican soldiers and were forced to march to Mexico City, where they were imprisoned. Resulting in a U.S.-Mexico diplomatic controversy, the expedition also aided Texas' western land claims.

A Presbytery consisting of W. Beasley, L. Williams, P.T. Corneal, and E. Allison met at Mumford Springs, Milam County, Texas (present day Davilla) to organize Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church in 1866. From 1868 to 1870 the congregation held services in the Davilla Methodist Church building.

In 1870 the congregation purchased a town lot here in Davilla where they constructed a sanctuary in 1871. The congregation was subsequently renamed the Baptist Church of Christ at Davilla, Texas. Early baptisms took place in several nearby creeks. People from the area west of Davilla and others converted by evangelist Elder Penn joined the congregation in the late 1870s. Church records indicate that the congregation has been referred to as Davilla Baptist Church since 1904.

For many years a tabernacle adjacent to the church building was used by various local denominations for summer revivals. A baptistry was installed in the sanctuary in 1955. On February 16, 1992, the congregation held their last Sunday School and church services in the original 1871 church building and later that year a new sanctuary was completed at this site. The church continues to provide religious instruction and serve the community with various programs and activities.

The heritage of Bellville Methodist Church dates to 1822, when Thomas B. Bell came to Texas from Florida with Stephen F. Austin's Old Three Hundred colonists. He settled in an area west of the Brazos River, and donated fifty acres of land between Piney and Caney Creeks to be used for a church and camp meetings. When Methodist missionary Henry Stephenson arrived in Texas in 1834, he found plans underway for a camp meeting. At an 1835 meeting, future Alamo hero William Barret Travis was a featured speaker, and promised to assist in the effort to bring Methodist preachers to Texas. Missionary Robert Alexander conducted services at the Caney Creek camp meeting site in August 1839. Methodists continued to use the campground for worship services until the early 1880s, when the land was sold. Funds from the sale were used to build a German Methodist Episcopal Church in Bellville in 1882. The building was used by German and English speaking congregations on alternate Sundays. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was organized in 1886, and a new sanctuary was completed on this site that year. The Rev. J.P. Childers served as the first minister.

Travel was of great importance in Polk County's early days. Civilized Indians -- particularly Creeks, Alabamas, Coushattas and Kickapoos -- were numerous and had many trails for intercommunication. Long King's Trace (named for a chief) led from Alabama villages through site of present Livingston, past site of this marker. The Coushatta Trace began in Louisiana, wound through what is now Polk County, joining (more than 100 miles west) an ancient road into Mexico. The Alabama Trace branched off El Camino Real (The King's Highway) east of Nacogdoches and came to the site of present Alabama-Coushatta Reservation. Indians started many other local roads.

A Mexican-Indian trail became the Nacogdoches-Liberty Stagecoach Road, after white settlement began in the 1820s. Settlers brought in goods by Trinity River boats, establishing 20 landings (or wharves) on the 72 miles of Polk County riverfront. Roads led to the interior from the landings; boats handled shipping of county produce for many years.

Northeast of Livingston is the "Old Israel Road" -- named for a religious colony whose buildings have disappeared. As with many of the Indians, memory of these people is preserved only in the road's name.

In 1868 a congregation of Methodist living in the Bell and Mclennan county region between Elm and Bull hide Creeks erected a simple sanctary at the site of a nearby cedar log toll bridge. The Rev. James Peeler, a Waco district Methodist Circuit preacher, served the Cedar Bridge Church congregation in 1873. The community of Eddy, known as Marvin when first settled about 1880, moved toward the railroad tracks extended through this area by the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Railroad in 1882. That year a building known as Sage Chapel was relocated from local rancher Charles Dunning's Land to Eddy for use by the Methodist and Baptist Congregation. Eddy Methodist erected a new church building at this site in 1892. This sancturary, built in 1912 through the efforts of the Rev. S.B. Knowles, is a good example of an Akron plan Church. It features elaborate German-,ade stained glass windows, a stamped metal ceiling, and Prairie School style infuences sch as overhanging eaves with brackets, a hipped roof,and tower. Bruceville and Eddy Methodist Churches merged to form the Bruceville-Eddy United Methodist Churchin 1983. Renovation of the sanctuary in 1993 included placement of the Bruceville Church Bell in the Belfry.

Believed to have been organized before 1887, this congregation met for worship in a local schoolhouse and baptized new members in nearby creeks and a small lake to the tune of "Shall We Gather at The River." Land was deeded to the Kennedale Baptist Church in 1887; in 1895 the church joined the Tarrant County Baptist Association.

The Kennedale community tabernacle, shared with area Methodists, was used for larger socials and revivals. By 1896 the congregation was installed in a one-room structure of its own with the Reverend G.W. Green as pastor. A parsonage was built on church property in 1938, and by 1940 an addition to the original one room building was required. A new two-story Austin stone structure with tall stained glass windows and a balcony in the auditorium, built in 1954, was destroyed by fire in 1959. Undaunted, church members raised $3,585.65, sold the parsonage, and erected a fellowship hall. By 1961, a new church building faced east.

The First Baptist Church of Kennedale continues a proud tradition of over 110 years of community service with such programs as the Women's Missionary Union, established in August 1903, and a taped ministry for shut-ins.

Located on top of Gent Mountain between two creeks, the village of Gent was settled in the 1850s primarily by families from Alabama and Tennessee in search of good farmland. The early settlers quickly established religious and educational institutions, and by 1900 the village boasted several stores, mills and cotton gins as well. Construction of the Texas State Railroad from Rusk to Palestine and the founding of the town of Maydelle (1.5 mi.S.) in 1910 pulled business away from Gent. Gradually the village was abandoned, and today not a single structure remains.