First Baptist Church

B. H. Carroll's Burleson County years began in 1858, when his Baptist preacher father moved the family here from Arkansas. He entered Baylor at Independence the next year, left in 1861 to fight for the Confederacy, and came home crippled and in debt after a wound at Mansfield, Louisiana, in 1864. He was converted at a Methodist camp meeting near Caldwell in 1865 and ordained in 1866. Until 1869 he preached in rural churches in Burleson and McLennan counties, then led First Baptist in Waco from 1871 to 1899.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church Originally named Dove Church. Organized May 14, 1843, in home of Laban Rice, one of six charter members. Noted frontier ministers R. E. B. Baylor and Noah Byars presided at founding, and Byars served as first pastor. First building (1844) stood on Davidson Creek (about 1 mi. E), where early Baptisms were held. One of many renowned former pastors was the Rev. B. H. Carroll, who was ordained and licensed here. Of five sanctuaries for this church, two burned. The present one was built in 1928-1929. In 1960 it was remodeled and an education building erected. (1969)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 18 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 21 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 25 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Milam County Courthouse and Jail — 28 mi
  Cameron's 1892 Renaissance Revival courthouse and the 1895 St. Louis-built jail beside it, now the county museum, are listed together on the National Register.

More markers nearby

• Warren Lodge No. 56, A.F. & A.M. — steps away
• City of Caldwell — steps away
• Burleson County — 0.2 mi
• John Mitchell — 0.2 mi