Pioneer Methodist preachers served the area of present Brookeland beginning in the 1840s, conducting worship services in local homes, and Thomas Jefferson Jacks was among the earliest to minister to settlers in this part of Sabine County, then on the Bear Creek circuit. In 1876, Mary L. White Hamilton conveyed three acres of land for a church, school, and cemetery, and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, that organized as a result of her donation later became Brookeland United Methodist Church. Members first held services in the community schoolhouse. In 1907, during the pastorate of the Rev. John C. Campbell, parishioners began construction on a new church building at this site purchased by the trustees. Over the years, the facilities expanded to meet the needs and programs of the growing congregation. For more than 100 years, the church has been a vital part of the surrounding area, providing spiritual leadership and stability through decades including times of population decline and the Great Depression, and its congregation continues to have a strong influence on the community it serves.