First Baptist Church of Jefferson

The Southern Baptist Convention met in Jefferson in May 1874. A 1936 county history calls it the largest the convention had held to that time and the first in Texas, with more than 1,000 attending. It names A. J. Broadus and J. R. Graves among the ministers present and says a young minister was ordained, his father delivering the charge. The visitors then toured Texas free, courtesy of the Texas and Pacific Railroad. The history dates the brick church's dedication to December 4, 1869, and says a $1,000 imitation pipe organ of 1870 stayed in use fifty years.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Jefferson Organized in 1855 as the Missionary Baptist Church, this congregation chose the Rev. George B. Tucker as its first pastor. Worship services were originally held in the Union House at city park, Freeman Hall, Judge Patillo's schoolhouse, and the Methodist and Presbyterian churches. The Rev. D. B. Culberson (1796-1862) served as the second pastor, 1857-1859. He was the father of Congressman David B. Culberson (1830-1900) and grandfather of Governor Charles A. Culberson (1855-1925). The fellowship erected a two-story brick church building on this property in 1869. It was the meeting place in May 1874 of the Southern Baptist Convention, with over 1000 in attendance. It was also the site of an 1877 revival led by Evangelist William E. Penn, a member of this congregation. In 1898 the fellowship split. Pat of the members formed Howelltown Baptist Church; the remainder continued to worship in the brick church until about 1917. The Howelltown congregation adopted the name Central Baptist in 1924. After the two groups reunited in 1937 as the First Baptist Church, members restored and reoccupied the 1869 structure. When it burned in 1944, a new church was erected. Educational facilities were added in 1951 and 1973. (1977)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Excelsior House Hotel — 0.3 mi
  A brick-and-timber hotel at 211 West Austin that began as a river captain's boarding house in 1858 and was revived by a garden club in 1959, and still takes guests with rosewood furniture.
• Jefferson Historical Museum — 0.3 mi
  A four-floor museum in Jefferson's 1888-90 federal post office and courthouse, with rooms for African-American history, Jewish heritage, the Caddo and Diamond Bessie, bought by the historical society in 1965 for $8,100.
• Caddo Lake State Park — 11 mi
  A Civilian Conservation Corps park on the Texas shore of Caddo Lake, where the Caddo told of a lake made by wind-driven water and visitors now paddle Big Cypress Bayou past moss-hung bald cypress.
• Caddo Lake National Wildlife Refuge — 12 mi
  Wetlands and woods on part of a former ammunition plant, now a refuge for wood ducks, prothonotary warblers and alligator snapping turtles, with four easy trails and a free visitor center on a Ramsar lake.

More markers nearby

• Site of Home of Captain George T. Todd — steps away
• The Brooks House — 0.2 mi
• First National Bank of Jefferson — 0.2 mi
• Immaculate Conception Catholic Church — 0.3 mi