The History of Wesleyan Homes

In June of 1953, the Central Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church formed a committee to study the possibility of establish-ing a home or homes for the aging. The next year, the Annual Conference authorized the formation of the Wesleyan Corporation. The Articles of Incorporation for Wesleyan Homes, Inc., a Texas non-profit 501 (c) 3 charitable corporation, were filed with the Secretary of State and the IRS on October 7, 1955.

For some years the Corporation was a Board of Trustees, with a dream, in search of a site. On April 25, 1957, Don Scarbrough, editor of The Williamson County Sun wrote an editorial endorsing the idea that the first Wesleyan home should be built in Georgetown. The Georgetown Chamber of Commerce came up with a plan to get Wesleyan to build in Georgetown. In July 1958, a city election was held to authorize the donation of the city park at 12th & Church Street to be the site. The Chamber pledged $15,000 a year for four years in support. Ground breaking ceremonies were held on January 3, 1961 with Bishop William C. Martin presiding. On August 31, 1962, the Wesleyan Retirement Home was completed and the first resident moved in on September 10th. At that time the Retirement Home had an infirmary on the fourth floor. Gradually, the entire third and fourth floors were given over to nursing care and assisted living.

By 1978, the need for nursing care was so great that the Wesleyan built a 90-bed nursing home, approximately one mile away, across from the new Georgetown Hospital on Scenic Drive. The property for this facility was a gift from the Lola Wright Foundation. This new nursing center accepted its first resident on February 1, 1978. The Retirement Home then became strictly an independent living facility with 84 units. In 1986, the Nursing Center was doubled in size to 184 beds. On May 15, 1987, the new addition was consecrated, with Bishop John Russell presiding. A new 40-bed Alzheimer’s addition was consecrated on June 19, 1999, with Bishop Joe Wilson presiding, giving the Nursing Home a total of 224 beds.

During 2006 a community Capital Campaign was successfully conducted to raise one and a half million dollars to build a modern retirement facility to replace the original Wesleyan Retirement Home. The Retirement Home on University was sold to a private developer to be remodeled into an office building. The Wesleyan Board split the proceeds of the sale between the Benevolent Endowment Fund dedicated to helping those who otherwise could not afford the care or facilities they need and new campus development.

In January 2008, a 124 apartment Independent Living facility was opened on a 40 acre campus at William’s Drive and Estrella Crossing in Georgetown called The Wesleyan at Estrella.