Earl

Earl, also known as Earls and as Earle's Chapel, was a farming community off State Highway 110 some fourteen miles north of Rusk in northeastern Cherokee County. It was evidently first settled around the time of the Civil War and was named for M. L. Earle, an early settler. A small church formed the nucleus of the community, which was called Earl's Chapel during its early history. A local post office operated briefly in 1874 under the name Earl, and a school, known as Earl's Chapel School, was in operation by 1896, when it had an enrollment of forty. In the mid-1930s the community comprised the church, the school, and a number of houses. The school later closed. In the early 1990s only the church, a cemetery, and a few scattered houses still remained. In 1992 Earle's Chapel Methodist Church and Earle's Chapel Cemetery received Texas Historical Markers. Historic-minded residents completed cataloging the cemetery in 1996. In 2000 Earl, though not shown on maps, still had the church, cemetery, and a few scattered houses.