In 1867, Martha White McWhirter experienced a religious vision in which she felt sanctified by God, and after sharing her experience with other Belton women she formed a small community of women who, seeking to leave unfulfilling lives as wives and mothers, joined her beliefs. The group, which called itself the True Church Colony and was later incorporated as the Belton Woman's Commonwealth, followed four major tenets: celibacy, non-denominationalism, dream interpretation, and communal living. Because members severed ties with their non-sanctified husbands and churches, they had to support themselves and their dependent children, earning income by selling bread, taking in laundry, and practicing dentistry from the McWhirter home. In 1886, they opened the Central Hotel on the west side of North Main Street between First and Second Avenues, and although some community members first tried to keep travelers away, the hotel soon became well known in the community and throughout the state for its fine food and accommodations and became an important source of income. In 1894, Martha McWhirter became the first woman elected to the Belton Board of Trade. Following instructions received in a dream, the group sold its Central Texas properties and moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1900. Membership then declined, leaving only nine members by 1908, and the last member of the commonwealth, Martha Scheble, died at age 101 in 1983.