Burning Bush Colony

The Burning Bush Colony was a short-lived Methodist intentional community in Smith and Cherokee Counties in Texas, U.S., south of Bullard, on the Smith-Cherokee county line.[1] It was active in the early 20th century.

Representatives from the Metropolitan Church Association, commonly called the Society of the Burning Bush, started the colony on a 1,520-acre farm near Bullard in 1912, and in 1913, 375 members of the church arrived at the colony. They constructed a tabernacle and residences.[1]

When colonists joined the church, they lived communally and gave up all their possessions. This was also the makeup of the Burning Bush Colony. They ate together in a common dining hall and had a communal storehouse. They sustained themselves mainly through farming, but also through odd jobs in other local communities.[1]

The colony did not have much success with farming, and eventually failed, despite support from the Metropolitan Church Association. After the colony failed, some stayed in Texas, but most returned to the North.[1]

According to the 1986 book, Ghost Towns of Texas by T. Lindsay Baker, the site of Burning Bush was in Bullard 0.3 miles south of Farm to Market Road 344 across from the Douglas Family Cemetery, which is on County Road 3707.[2]

References
  1. "Burning Bush, Texas". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. Baker, T. Lindsay (1986). Ghost Towns of Texas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 16–18. ISBN 0806121890.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.