Elko Methodist (Houston County, Ga.)

In 1892, the Jeter Family deeded land for a Methodist Church and membership for the new congregation grew out of the membership of Hickory Grove Church, located a few miles away. The first building was a small frame structure built around 1892 but was struck by lightning and destroyed. In 1910, the congregation ordered the bricks for a new church building, but when the train car arrived, the members could not agree on where to locate the new church. As the railroad was about to return the shipment of bricks, Rev. E.E. Gardner, the pastor, and church member Jere Dean Grace unloaded the entire lot of bricks themselves. By the late 1890s, a community newspaper, The Elkonian, was developed, and by 1900, the population of Elko was 500. The community prospered over the next decade and in 1905, the Bank of Elko was founded. But prosperity was short-lived when tornados hit the town and two separate fires burned many buildings. In 1915, Elko was impacted by the boll weevil that decimated cotton crops completely through the 1920s. In some cases, farmers were forced to develop different crops, like Elberta Peaches, that have helped Houston County to keep up its reputation as an agricultural center. However the community of Elko never grew much after the 1920s and for a time, both churches in the community closed for a period of time.