Central Baptist Church

A vacation Bible school may be this church's farthest-reaching act. The Record newspapers reported in 2012 that Central Baptist of Port Arthur held one at Prairie View School in June 1940, and that it, a five-day revival and renewed interest in Sunday school led to the organizing of what became First Baptist Church of Bridge City. That church was chartered July 11, 1940, with 28 members, and the Rev. J. B. Perry was its first pastor. The plaque dates Central's own first vacation Bible school, the first in the Southeast Texas Baptist Association, to 1925.

What the plaque says

Central Baptist Church On October 14, 1912, fifteen members of Port Arthur's First Baptist Church, including Rev. J. Warren Bates, left and organized Central Baptist Church. Rev. Bates directed the organizational meeting at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Singleton. On December 11, 1912, the congregation purchased land on Procter Street and constructed a wood frame church. in March 1915, that church building was moved to a new home at 6th Street and St. Augustine Avenue, and services were held there until 1924. From 1924 until 1976, the church was located at 9th Street and DeQueen Bouelvard, meeting first in a frame building and then in a brick sanctuary. In 1973, Central Baptist Church purchased acreage on Highway 73 and 46th Street and completed a new worship complex there in 1976. In 1925, Central Baptist Church was the first church in the Southeast Texas Baptist Association to have a Vacation Bible School. Radio broadcasts of evening services began in 1962 under Rev. Carl Duck and in 1971 under Rev. Dale Kirkhuff the morning service was televised. A child day care center began in 1977 and the Accelerated Christian Edcuation school begain in late 1980, but these two programs were later discontinued. The educational and administrative buildings were completed in May 1983. The church conducts evening services for the residents of Cypress Glen East Nursing Home. The church joined other local churches in sponsoring the English as a Second Language program. During Hurricanes Rita and Ike, the church opened its facilities to national and international volunteers who came to help with recovery efforts. For more than a century, Central Baptist Church has reached out through activities, charity and prayer. (2012)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 4.7 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 12 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.
• Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site — 15 mi
  A waterfront park at the mouth of the Sabine where the earthwork of Fort Griffin stood, with a Dowling statue, a Union memorial, wartime magazines and a walkway for fishing.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 15 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.

More markers nearby

• Trinity Lutheran Church — 0.6 mi
• Janis Lyn Joplin — 1.2 mi
• The Hughen School — 1.9 mi
• Harry Henry Choates — 1.9 mi