Wesley United Methodist Church

Wesley United Methodist Church, also called Wesley Chapel, was founded in 1878 and is one of two operating churches in Pelham, Texas. Freed slaves established the town of Pelham, first called Forks of the Creek, in 1866 about 35 miles northeast of Waco, and the town grew to include several businesses, a post office, and a population of 350 by 1926. The town now has a population of only a few dozen but hosts an annual homecoming celebration that draws hundreds of former residents back to Pelham. “I don’t know what it is about this place,” resident Mallord Parks, 57, told the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s laid back. Everyone from Pelham likes coming back to Pelham.”