First Baptist Church of Angleton

The church is almost as old as Angleton. Lewis Bryan Sr. and Faustino Kiber founded the town in 1890, and in 1892 they deeded half the townsite to the Velasco Terminal Railway for a thousand dollars, on condition that the line run through town and put its depot on Front Street. The first church, on block 25 given to the Methodists, served every denomination until the others built their own. Angleton became county seat after a bitter fight, and a 1913 election to return the seat to Brazoria failed, 1,348 votes to 1,058.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Angleton The First Baptist Church of Angleton was established in 1896 with Joseph Matthew Kailin as pastor. A hurricane in 1900 destroyed the sanctuary. Members met in borrowed facilities until 1911 when a new church building was erected. The congregation rebuilt and repaired after each storm and added facilities as membership grew. The church sponsored missions which became Templo Bautista and the Second Baptist Church of Angleton. The church supports various outreach ministries and remains an integral part of the community. (1997)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge — 11 mi
  Coastal prairie, salt marsh and bays between Freeport and Christmas Bay, where an auto tour along Big Slough passes wintering geese, ducks and wading birds in the tens of thousands.
• Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site — 13 mi
  A Brazos sugar plantation built by enslaved people for the Patton family, later leased convict labor and Hogg family oil, now told through Rachel Patton and Sarah Ford.
• Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site — 18 mi
  A sugar and cotton plantation on the San Bernard River whose enslaved builders and their descendants left one of the best-preserved African American archeological sites in Texas.
• Brazos Bend State Park — 18 mi
  Oak and pecan bottomland, lakes and alligators on the Brazos River 45 miles from downtown Houston, with the museum's George Observatory in the woods.

More markers nearby

• Angleton Independent School District — steps away
• Nathan H. Haller — steps away
• James Briton "Brit" Bailey — 5.8 mi
• The Brazos Canal — 7.7 mi