Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church

Ebenezer's choir made radio history. In 1938, under Virgie Carrington-Dewitty, who directed the church's music for more than fifty years, its singers became the first African American choir heard on a commercial radio program in Texas, according to resolutions of the Texas House. The church began in February 1875 with eighteen charter members at Elisa Hawkins's home. In 1988 it formed the East Austin Economic Development Corporation, and the Rev. Marvin C. Griffin led the congregation for more than four decades.

What the plaque says

Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church The Ebenezer (Third) Baptist Church was organized by Reverend C. Ward, February 1875, in the home of Mrs. Elisa Hawkins at 1104 East Tenth Street. The first frame structure was built at the corner of Catalpa and Curve streets. The membership outgrew this church, and a brick sanctuary with stained glass windows was erected at the corner of East Tenth and San Marcos streets in 1885. In 1915, the stucco tabernacle was erected. The present Sanctuary and Education Complex was erected in 1950-1955. The limestone and brick structure is of Gothic design and the tower houses the bell from the first brick church. Also, a parsonage was built at 1203 Cotton Street. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• French Legation State Historic Site — steps away
  A raised pine house built in 1840 and 1841 for France's envoy to the Republic of Texas, who left Austin in a rage over a neighbor's pigs before it was finished.
• Texas State Cemetery — 0.3 mi
  A hill east of the Capitol that began with one general's grave in 1851 and now holds Stephen F. Austin, governors, Barbara Jordan and more than 2,000 Confederate veterans and widows.
• George Washington Carver Museum — 0.4 mi
  East Austin's museum of Black history and culture, grown from a segregated branch library moved across town in 1933, with a permanent exhibit on Juneteenth at its core.
• Texas State Capitol — 0.7 mi
  Austin's fourth statehouse, a Renaissance Revival capitol of 1888 that stands 311 feet to its Goddess of Liberty and was restored after the 1983 fire.

More markers nearby

• Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church — steps away
• Victory Grill — steps away
• Lydia Street Fire Station — steps away
• Site of Samuel Huston College — 0.2 mi