Established by formerly enslaved people around 1865, the community was named for Peyton Roberts, one of the founders.

In the 1820s, he moved to Texas with his owner, Jeremiah Roberts, settling in the Bastrop and Caldwell counties area.

The freed families agreed to work for William during the war, receiving payment in the form of supplies they would need to begin new lives.

[3] Roberts also built a lime kiln which was used to make the mortar for the buildings erected in Peyton.

Jim Upshear, who moved to the area from Virginia with his wife by wagon train, donated the land for the church's permanent site.