* Condensed from: History of Liberty Hill United Methodist Church by Margaret Cates Bryson, published October 1947.  Copies are available through the church office.  And from History - First United Methodist Church Liberty Hill, Texas by Beth Rankin, published August, 1984

In 1854, Liberty Hill United Methodist Church was organized in  the settlement known as Old Liberty Hill, on Bryson Hill, one and a half miles west of the present church.

Its five charter members were John T. Bryson and wife, Amelia Bryson, their daughter, Hulda Bryson, Anthony Smith and wife Amanda E. Smith.  Josiah Whipple and William Monk were among the first Methodist preachers in and about this community.

A one-room log cabin was built in the Bryson pasture, which was used as a church and also as a public school. This building was located just south of a stock tank near the present site of the Liberty Hill Cemetery.

Construction of a two and a half story building was begun in 1870 (site of the current church) on two acres of land donated by Capt. T. S. Snyder, a pioneer cattleman and a son-in-law of John T. Bryson. The Liberty Hill Masonic Lodge was chartered in 1875 and made use of the upper half-story; the second story was used for public school classes and also for Sunday School and worship.

In 1905, the two upper floors were removed, the choir and pulpit space enlarged, and three memorial windows were installed.  In 1916, two wings were added to accommodate the growing Sunday School.

The present Education/Fellowship Building, completed in 1993, has evolved from a tabernacle with a granite gravel floor and with posts supporting a skeleton roof covered with cedar boughs, erected in 1913.

Since 1886, the women of the church have held a vital role in the congregation. There have been many women’s groups over the years, beginning in 1886 with the "Foreign Missionary Society" to the current United Methodist Women.

In 1985 the United Methodist Church Commission on Archives awarded the Church a plaque designating it "United Methodist Historic Site No. 158." (Click on the image at right for an enlarged view of our Historic Site markers)

Other web sites with local historical information

Three-Legged Willie: History and Genealogy of Williamson County, Texas

The History of Liberty Hill at Len Kubiak's forttumbleweed.com