Beech Grove Baptist Church

Baptist services were held on the homestead of George W. Smyth, and the Handbook of Texas tells his story. He crossed the Sabine in 1830, surveyed for Bevil's Settlement, and signed the Texas Declaration of Independence in 1836. He took part in the convention that wrote the 1845 constitution, served four years as General Land Office commissioner from 1848, and sat in Congress from 1853 to 1855. Back on his Jasper County farm, his estate of $27,000 included twenty-eight enslaved people, and he opposed secession. He died in Austin in 1866 and lies in the State Cemetery.

What the plaque says

Beech Grove Baptist Church Baptist worship services were held as early as the 1850s in a building known as Allen's Chapel on the homestead of early pioneer George W. Smyth (1803-1866). The Beech Grove community grew up northwest of Smyth's land, and a school and church building was erected in 1875, the year this church was formally organized. The building burned in 1893, and the Allen's Chapel building was moved and used until 1901, when a new sanctuary was completed at this site. Two later structures were built, in 1950 and 1968. Baptisms were held in Sandy Creek until 1957. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Martin Dies, Jr. State Park — 5.3 mi
  A 705-acre state park on Steinhagen Reservoir at the meeting of the Neches and Angelina rivers, with about 14 miles of paddling trails through sloughs and more than 200 campsites.

More markers nearby

• Here Lived Dr. Stephen H. Everitt — 3.7 mi
• Dixie Freedom Colony — 4.4 mi
• Site of the Town of Bevilport — 4.8 mi
• Dixie Baptist Church — 5.0 mi