First Baptist Church of Alpine

Cattlemen camped in tents beside their herds here from 1878 to 1882. The railroad needed the best spring, which lay on a section owned by Daniel and Thomas Murphy, so it agreed to put their name on the section and the settlement in exchange for a contract to use the water. The Murphys registered a plat for the town with the Presidio County clerk in November 1883. A description of 1888 counted a dozen houses, three saloons, a hotel and rooming house, a livery stable, a butcher shop and a drugstore that also held the post office.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Alpine When the railroad came through this area in 1882, the settlement of Osborne was established here near natural springs. The community's name changed to Murphysville in 1883, and at that time, as the population began to grow, missionaries arrived from numerous denominations. Included among them was the noted Rev. George W. Baines. In 1883, he held what was reportedly the first Protestant meeting in the community, which became known as Alpine in 1888. Ten years after Baines' meeting, the First Baptist Church of Alpine was officially organized on April 14, 1893. It called its first pastor, the Rev. D.B. Rose, in 1894. That same year, the church affiliated with the Sweetwater Association, and the congregation met in various locations until purchasing this site and dedicating its first sanctuary, an adobe structure, here in 1896. The congregation by that time had a Women's Missionary Union and held regular Bible and Sunday School classes. Membership increased, and next to its sanctuary in 1910, the congregation added a parsonage. The church grew, with nearly two hundred members enrolled in Sunday School and youth and service groups. In 1915, it began work on a larger sanctuary, in use by 1917. Architect James E. Greene's design included ample sanctuary seating, as well as Sunday School rooms, a baptistery, a Ladies Aid parlor and a pastor's study. The congregation added facilities and expanded its programs to meet the needs of the community, including the Sul Ross Teachers College, which opened in 1920. With no local public library, members established a borrowing library. Other programs included children's and youth programs, Boy Scout sponsorship, mission work in Alpine and in Mexico, and activities at Sul Ross State University. Participating in Baptist work locally and internationally, First Baptist Church continues to lead its local and regional communities through its many programs, services and dedicated members. (2003)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Big Bend — 0.6 mi
  The museum of the Big Bend region and northern Mexico on the Sul Ross State University campus in Alpine, back since 2007 in its native-stone building of 1937.
• Marfa Lights Viewing Area — 14 mi
  The roadside viewing area on US 90 nine miles east of Marfa, where people gather after dark to watch the horizon toward the Chinati Mountains for the Marfa lights.
• Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center and Botanical Gardens — 16 mi
  The Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute's grounds south of Fort Davis, with an 18-acre botanical garden, a cactus museum and trails into the desert foothills.
• Fort Davis National Historic Site — 22 mi
  A frontier post of 1854 to 1891 on the San Antonio-El Paso Road, garrisoned after the Civil War by Black regiments, with its buildings restored to their 1880 look.

More markers nearby

• J. C. Bird — steps away
• Texas Confederate Colonel Henry P. Brewster (1816-1884) — steps away
• Texas Confederate General Lawrence "Sul" Ross — 0.6 mi
• Burgess' Water Hole — 1.0 mi