Texas Historical Marker #07418
Pilot Grove Baptist Church. This congregation traces its history to the establishment of the United Baptist Church here in 1848 on 3.5 acres of land donated by Hezakiah Warden. By 1850 the town of Pilot Grove contained the Baptist Church, a post office, grist mill, drugstore, several saloons, and a cotton gin. Warden donated an acre of land along Pilot Grove Creek to the Baptist Church in 1854. Pilot Grove Baptist Church was established as a mission of the United Baptist Church by Elders John A. Piars, Benjamin Watson, and George F. Calor, and a number of other charter members in 1858. Early worship services were held in members' homes and in a local schoolhouse until a sanctuary was built in 1876. During this time and until the early 1970s new converts were baptized in nearby Pilot Grove Creek. According to local tradition the original sanctuary was destroyed in a tornado and replaced with a new church building at this site in 1917. During World War II the town of Pilot Grove began a rapid decline and today is a small rural community with only this congregation and two cemeteries remaining. Pilot Grove Baptist Church nevertheless continues a tradition of hosting social events and providing worship services for the community. #7418
?, Pilot Grove, TX, United States
Texas Historical Marker #07341
Binion Homestead. Georgia natives Thomas Noel Binion (1827-1900) and Pauline Walker Binion (1829-1915) migrated to Texas after the Civil War. They moved to the Oxford community in Grayson County where they purchased this 107-acre farm in 1871. Thomas and Pauline reared four children here: Zeph (1856-1928), Homer (1865-1926), Robert E. Lee "Eddie" (1869-1945), and Sarah (1872-1955). After Thomas and Pauline died, they were buried in the family cemetery northwest of their homestead. The farm was inherited by their children. Eddie Binion became a merchant in nearby Pilot Grove, but moved back to the family homestead with his sister Sarah after the death of his wife. Eddie raised sugar cane and operated a syrup mill here from the turn of the century until the 1940s. The mill first used mules to operate the crusher, and wood fires to cook the molasses. When fuel oil and coal were readily available in the 1920s, a piston engine replaced the mule, and coal replaced the wood fires. During the Depression years, cane continued to arrive but money to purchase coal and fuel oil diminished. The mule was reinstated, but the Binion Syrup Mill foundered in the 1940s. The mill was dismantled and the iron and steel sold for use in World War II. #7341
?, Pilot Grove, TX, United States