Ivy Chapel, the Story
by Charles Swift
Ivy Chapel is located in northeast Kimble County about a mile and a half, westwardly, off of Ranch Road 385 on to Kimble County Road 320. The Chapel is situated on a square 2-acre piece of high ground above Cedar Creek and within a short but brushy walk to the banks of the main Llano River.
In 1898, Sam H. Ivy donated a two-acre tract of land for a school site. A structure was built and Ivy School was begun on that previous site. For 19 years Ivy School was situated on that piece of property and then relocated.
On March 16, 1917, Mr. Ivy donated a second tract and it was conveyed to the local Kimble County school district to be “used for school purposes so long as the school is maintained and kept”. The construction of the existing building was completed on May 1, 1917. Harvey Pearl and Henry Grobe were in charge of construction but neighbors in the Ivy Community “pitched in” to help complete the project. The Ivy Community was named for Sam H. Ivy and his two brothers, Bob and Jack who moved to Kimble County in 1883 from Lampasas County, Texas.
Sam Ivy was a pioneer stockman and ranch land owner in Kimble County. His obituary read, “he was a consistent Christian, a good man, and a faithful citizen”. He and his wife, Sallie, are interred at Red Creek Cemetery near London.
Ivy Community School continued from 1917, as an institution of public education, sometimes recording as many as twenty-nine students in eight grades, until 1939. By then rural schools were becoming a thing of the past. Ivy School consolidated with London and students were transported by bus to the larger school. Two generations of Ivy Community children attended the little school.
The school building was always accessible and available to the surrounding community. So, it was only natural during those early times that the property would also be used for Church services concurrently with the school’s program. From the Chapel’s outset the Presbyterians around the County led in congregational, financial, and spiritual support to keep Ivy Chapel a House of Worship for the Lord.
Henrietta Hull (1913-1993) faithfully and wonderfully ministered with music, hymns, and piano accompaniment to the Ivy Congregation during the fifty years preceding her death. In her memoirs she wrote:
“My father, Jim Hull, organized Sunday School, using non-denominational literature. Brother William Bierschwale started coming out from Harper Presbyterian Church and preached once a month. Anyway, along in the summer, Brother Bierschwale got a man name of Bradley to help him hold a revival. Now I guess it took more to revive folks in those days, for those revivals lasted from ten days to two weeks. The preachers came out on the mail car and the good folks of the community took care of them.” (ca. 1917)
In the summer of 1929, George W. Crofoot came to minister to the First Presbyterian Church in Junction and also to Ivy, where he held services once a month. The Reverend Mr. Crofoot established a mission-type Church at Ivy, Roosevelt, Evergreen, and Segovia.
The Ivy congregation bore fruit and flourished and in 1934, Dr. W.P. Dickey came to the Junction First Presbyterian Church. Dr. Dickey routinely brought a Gospel message to the congregants of Ivy Chapel during his ministerial tenure of four years.
In 1939 when the school at Ivy was closed, neighbors and friends were not willing to give up a vital part of their community life. They worked hard to maintain the little white building as their place of worship. As a result of their dedicated labor, Ivy Chapel remained a Church.
Lewis Wilkins came to Junction in 1941 to pastor at First Presbyterian. Reverend Wilkins continued to serve at Ivy also. He began a program of annual financial pledges and a budget was adopted for the Chapel.
In 1950 a young Presbyterian pastor, Henry Grubbs, ministered at both Junction’s First Church and The Chapel. Under the direction of Reverend Grubbs, a “town and ranch” program was started. Intern preachers and seminary students were furnished with a room and partial pay to compensate for their ministerial service. The “town and ranch” program ended and Ivy Chapel became self-supporting.
In the early 1960’s the Harper Presbyterian Church supplied ministers to the Chapel. Then in 1962 Reverend Jack Hunnicutt became the Pastor at Junction’s First Church. He and the Pastor at Harper, Dave Gallagher, shared preaching at Ivy for about five years. When Reverend Gallagher moved from Harper, Reverend Hunnicutt faithfully ministered the remaining 15 years at Junction and rotated services at Roosevelt and Ivy Chapel.
The Chapel building, through the years, has required some repair, maintenance, and upkeep. As prevailing winds blew against the shiplap exterior walls, more than once the structure needed some structural reinforcement. In the 1980’s, thanks to the ingenuity and donated equipment of the late Sonny Price, the Chapel was given a “good shove and braced” to get it plumb once again. For a period of time prior to and after the millennium the building was left abandoned, neglected, and prey to resident varmints nesting inside plus occasional acts of criminal vandalism.
Near the same time, Rose and Don Knotts settled into Kimble County just up the road from Ivy Chapel about a mile. Rose and Don developed an affection for the little white Church that stirred enough community interest to raise funding to repair and restore the deteriorating building. In 2004 and 2005 Rose and Don organized money raising kayak races down the main Llano River that provided enough finance to provide the Chapel with electricity, cleaning up, and a very needed coat of paint inside and out.
In October of 2017 a fund-raising anniversary celebration, feed, and a Church service was held on site. The building’s exterior had begun to further deteriorate and the outside walls were in dire need of refurbishment. Enough money was raised at the October event to get the carpentry and painting done. Completion of the rebuild project was finished in early 2019.
Don Knotts has been a Chapel “champion” over the last fifteen years by selflessly maintaining the property and making sure the interior of the Chapel stays tidy. Because the little Church house has been a popular wedding site for many years, Don has been especially attentive to the condition of the grounds and structure.
As well as weddings, Ivy Chapel is used now periodically for celebrating holiday occasions like Christmas, Easter, and Thanksgiving. Generally, there’s a cover dish meal involved, for sure there’s singing old songs of praise to The Lord, and someone still shares the good news message that God is with us always.
Earnie Broughton raises cattle on the land that surrounds the Chapel. He and his family have been active supporters of the Church since their arrival in Kimble County six decades ago. Earnie has always been a “behind the scene” worker and advocate for Ivy Chapel. His hands-on involvement and pleasant consultation in Ivy Chapel business is always appreciated.
Earnie’s grandmother, Margaret Broughton, wrote this over 30 years ago:
“We sit on our porch and gaze at the western Texas scene outside; a giant oak tree with its pattern of sun and shadows, hills folding into a cleft of purple and orange ravines. Then, the summer sun sets slowly behind the mountains. You can see Ivy Chapel from our porch, and when the lights go on, we realize it is time for church…. Neighbors have always been so hospitable and have made us feel part of the community. We especially enjoy friends who attend the little white church. Ivy Chapel has been a place for gathering, singing, and worship for many years”.
Frederica Burt Wyatt, who has graciously provided me with so much of the rich historical information for this Ivy Chapel story, described the lore and lure of Ivy Chapel from her eloquent pen as follows.
“A remainder and reminder of a once-bustling rural community is a little white wooden building nestled in the valley between the eternal hills of northeastern Kimble County in the hill country of Texas. The edifice, known as Ivy Chapel, bespeaks God’s love and the enduring spirit of the pioneers in their quest for education and religion.
Oft-times called ‘the church in the wildwood’, Ivy Chapel still beckons to those who seek to worship in a setting free from turmoil and influence of sometimes agnostic world.
Ivy Chapel and School, the subject of this narrative, is known to many folks as the place their characters were molded. Here, on the banks of Cedar Creek (one of at least two in Kimble County) as it meanders to join the Llano River, is the site where many received formal education and, often, their religious indoctrination.”
If you have further interest in events, donations, or involvement in the care of Ivy Chapel you may contact Charlie Swift by email at swift.charlie1@gmail.com.
