First Baptist Church of Crockett

Aldrich's county history shows a Crockett church that was once two. Mount Zion Baptist Church, whose first building went up about 1850, and a second Baptist body under D. W. Steele had been estranged for years. On April 9, 1871, Steele preached to both congregations, and they merged as the Baptist Church of Crockett, with J. G. Thomas and Steele as co-pastors. On May 22 the new church resolved to find a roomier house of worship and sell the old church property. Mount Zion's lot, Aldrich adds, was deeded in 1866 by A. T. Monroe.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Crockett A Baptist church, led by pioneer James T. Heplin, was meeting in Crockett as early as 1846. A second Baptist congregation was formally organized in 1850. Named Mt. Zion Baptist Church of Crockett, the congregation built a sanctuary on El Camino Real, now known as East Houston Avenue. A frame structure, completed about 1874 and known as Crockett Baptist Church at North 7th Street and East Houston, served the congregation until 1910. In that year the church, renamed First Baptist Church of Crockett, began construction of a new brick sanctuary. While it was under construction, worship services were held in the county courthouse. The new church building was completed by 1912. On December 26, 1946, the sanctuary was destroyed by fire. Rather than rebuild on the same site, the congregation elected to relocate. Services were held in the high school until 1949, when a new church building was completed at East Goliad Street and South 8th Street. An education building, fellowship hall, and other facilities were later added to the church property. First Baptist Church has served its community for over a century and has been an important part of Crockett history. (1988)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area — 18 mi
  A Davy Crockett National Forest lake of about 45 acres, built by the CCC in 1936 from a sawmill log pond, with a swimming beach, camping and the start of the 20-mile Four-C Trail.
• Mission Tejas State Park — 20 mi
  A 661-acre pine-forest park on the old El Camino Real near Weches, with a 1930s replica of the 1690 mission, the Rice Family Log Home and trails past remnants of the Spanish road.
• Caddo Mounds State Historic Site — 26 mi
  Three earthen mounds of an ancestral Caddo village and ceremonial center on the old El Camino Real, settled about A.D. 800 and still sacred to Caddo people, with a grass house and visitor center.

More markers nearby

• First Presbyterian Church of Crockett — steps away
• First Methodist Church — steps away
• Site of R. E. McConnell Property — steps away
• First Christian Church of Crockett — 0.2 mi