Providence

PROVIDENCE, TEXAS (Anderson County). Providence is just off Farm Road 323 near Slocum eleven miles northwest of Palestine in northwestern Anderson County. On March 20, 1858, W. T. Miller deeded eight acres for a central place of worship, a school, and a cemetery. The residents and Masons built a two-story building to be used for a school and church downstairs, and Providence Lodge No. 400 met upstairs. The lodge was chartered on June 15, 1874, with George H. Stovall as first master. In 1900 a tornado damaged the building, and in 1905 the lodge moved to Elkhart. In 1897 Providence had a district school serving forty-eight black students. It was discontinued in 1905, and the children went to school in nearby communities. Church members worshipped under an arbor until a one-story building was built from materials salvaged from the 1900 tornado. In the 1930s the site had a number of dwellings and a district school. The church voted to disband in 1935. A Texas historical marker for the Providence Church and Cemetery was dedicated on June 3, 1973. A memorial service is held the first Sunday in June each year. In 1992 only the cemetery, the one-story church building, and a few scattered homes remained. Though Providence was shown on county maps in 2000, no population estimates were available.