Joppa Church

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Welcome to the Joppa Church page. 

The purpose of this page is to record and preserve the stories, memories, and history of Joppa Church

Please contribute history, stories, and photos to toni.schmid@gmail.com  to be added to this page

Second Sunday lunch is a tradition that I have tried to preserve at Joppa. It might have been started in the 1800s when the church was founded.  It was being observed in 1964 when we began going to church at Joppa. It is our best opportunity to socialize. 

~ Milli 12/1/2025

The Joppa Church has played in important role in this community.  Dating back to 1881, when the community was knowns as Pool Branch, the church whitnessed Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths, life celebrations, all integral parts of the area residents.

Joppa, on Farm Road 210 and the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, seven miles northeast of Bertram in Burnet County, was first called Pool Branch, after a nearby pool formed by a waterfall. At that pool in the 1880s were a cotton gin and a mill; just southeast of the gin were a store and a blacksmith shop. On August 31, 1881, J. S. and Jane Danford of Delaware County, Iowa, gave two acres of land on the north bank of the North Gabriel to be held in trust for a school and a church. The school building was constructed at once and used for classes and church services. Worship was held in the schoolhouse until 1913, when a church building was erected. The local school, the church, and the locality were called Pool Branch until 1891, when the community secured a post office, and the people agreed on the Biblical name Joppa. On May 19, 1904, a telephone line was installed in Joppa. An iron bridge was built across the San Gabriel River in 1907 and was still in use in 1989. The area received electricity in 1939 from the Pedernales Electric Cooperative. 

Excerpt from 1979 Burnet County History, Volume I, page 223

Joppa Baptist Church

   The date the Pool Branch Baptist Church name was changed to the Joppa Baptist Church is not  nown; however, the Sunday School records show that the name was changed in 1910. (See Pool Branch Baptist Church history in this chapter.)  

   In the spring of 1913 a church building was erected near the schoolhouse, the builder being Floyd Asher, who was assisted by the men of the community. The original pews and pulpit furniture are still in use at the present time. 

   Between 1912 and 1916 there was a very active class in the church known as the Philathea and Baracco class. A Sunday School picnic was held each summer-the big event of

the year-for which a program was prepared, basket lunch spread on the grounds under the huge pecan trees on the creek, and ball games, music, and political speaking enjoyed.

   A brush arbor on the creek was used for summer revival meetings. About 1923 a tabernacle was built on the hill just east and across the road from the schoolhouse. This was used until about 1948 when it was torn down and the lumber sold. 

   Sunday School was held each Sunday for many years in the afternoon with preaching one Sunday a month. In 1947 the church voted to have church services two Sundays each month and Sunday School was held in the morning. By 1956 the church began having preaching each Sunday morning and continues to the present.

   After some severe storm damage to the church building in 1959 the building was repaired and remodeled. The furnishings were refinished. In 1964 the members rebuilt the old school building into a community center. 

The following have served the Joppa church as pastor:

John A. Arbuckle, __ Forbes, W. R. Denson, __ Thames, __ Wiginton. Allen Pledger, G. W. Stewart, 

__ Tumbleson, __ Richardson, Arthur Carson, J. L. Watson, A. S. Broaddus, A. V. Field, B. C. Brown, Harvey D. Lewis, George Brown, Chester Sylvester, Ike Hargrove, Bill Haverfield, Charles Edmon Stewart, L. C. Lange, Jr., John Henry McCoy, John F. Cox, Isaac Tennison, and Tommie Lee.

Serving as deacons have been T.J. Hundley, W. E. Alexander, W. W. Taylor, C. N. Price, L. B. Asher, George F. Price, C. E. Nichols, Buel Goodwin, Weldon Price, Arthur Price, Everett Nichols, Leo (Buck) Asher, and Raymond D. Price.

   Compiled from Stn.ckling church records, Joppa church records, and from ''Burnet Bulletin'' news items from Joppa, and submitted by Mrs. Bill Bryson.

Historian - Milli Riley Williams