The first record of a church
in the Gum Swamp area (as Collinston was then called) was the mention of
an Oak Ridge charge on October 11, 1873. They may have met in homes
and at the old Patton School, led by the pastor at that time Rev. George
Jackson. In 1877 a committee met to decide on a location (“at the
foot of the hills”) to build a church and parsonage in the Good Hope community.
After James D. Howell donated six acres of land to the church, they built
a church 40 by 32 feet in size. The building, which also served as
a school, was located near the entrance of the present Kalorama Nature
Preserve.
On May 28, 1894, John Boatner
Reily donated a 50x100’ lot in Collins to the church. He was asked
to leave the church in Bastrop for dancing, so he wanted a church that
he could attend and still be allowed to dance. The nearby Good Hope
Church had been torn down and the lumber was brought to Collins to use
for the new church.
A new church was built in 1925-26.
The old church was sold to G.W. Dalgarn who moved it one block away from
the site. It is now a residence. Various fundraisers were held
and the new church was built by the membership. They even waited
for the train every Monday and would ask the salesmen for donations.
The new church was named after the donor of the property. The Baptist
congregation used the building to meet on Friday nights.
In 1940, John Reily’s younger
brother William offered to give the church $10 for every dollar they raised.
After they raised $1000, he gave the church $10,000. After acquiring
a lot from Mrs. Cora Harper, the church property expanded to 130x100’ in
size. The 1926 church was moved to the new lot and used as the education
building. The new church, a copy of an English chapel, was built
on the corner of the lot.
The church bought a lot for
$125 in 1944. With the congregation supplying the labor, materials
from a house donated by William B. Reily were used to construct a parsonage
on the lot. That parsonage was eventually sold in 1977. |
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