Little Hope, Texas

About 1 ½ miles north of Little Hope is the old Little Hope church and cemetery, which is called New Little Hope. This area was first settled as early as the 1850s. Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church was established in 1881 and was said to have been named for the fact that there was “little hope” that it would survive for more than a year. Its first meeting was held at a brush arbor near the Murphy graveyard and a two-story structure was built here. The top floor was used for Woodmen of the World Lodge meetings. Baptisms were conducted at J.A. Stinson's millpond near Speer. After it was established, the church helped organize the Missionary Baptist Church in East Point. The Woodmen's Lodge disbanded in 1921 and the population was reported as 10 from 1933 to 1939 and had one business during that time. The community never had a post office. In 1960, the old church area and new community had several scattered, mostly abandoned, houses. The church membership climbed to 128 in the early 1970s and added a belfry. It received a Texas Historical marker in the early 1980s and continues to be active. The 1988 county highway map showed two businesses in Little Hope. The population was 25 in 2000.[2]

Little Hope is located at the intersection of Farm to Market Roads 312 and 154, 10 mi (16 km) east of Quitman and 12 mi (19 km) east of Winnsboro in eastern Wood County.[3]

Little Hope had its own school in 1857 with Emily Smith as its teacher. She was only 15 years old at the time. Not only did it serve the community, but it also served Holly Springs. It may have also been served by the Common Ridge school district, which had 84 White students enrolled in 1896 and 139 in 1905. The bell from the school building was given to the church and the land on which the school stood is now church property.[2] Today, the community is served by the Winnsboro Independent School District.