First Baptist Church of Mathis

The plaque's first Mathis church came from Lagarto, and so did many of the new town's early settlers and merchants. Lagarto, in neighboring Live Oak County, is named for the alligators once common along its creek; John W. Ramey, a maker of saddle trees, laid it out in 1856. By 1885 it had two churches, a steam gin and gristmill, the Lagarto News, and Lagarto College, the county's first, opened in 1884. Gamblers and outlaws brought a vigilance committee and a two-mile ban on liquor. When the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway bypassed it in 1888, Lagarto declined.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Mathis Organized in 1905, the First Baptist Church of Mathis has served this community for more than 100 years. Thomas H. Mathis, for whom the community is named, offered two lots each to any church that would erect a building of worship. A Methodist congregation in nearby Lagarto accepted the offer and moved to the new town of Mathis. The same year, the Rev. Isaac Willingham, together with seven charter members, organized First Baptist Church. Members met in the Methodist church building once a month before later holding meetings in a hall above a local store. In 1906, members completed construction of a one-room church building. The church grew steadily in its early years; membership increased particularly during periodic revival services. In 1939, First Baptist Church began a relationship with a Hispanic mission. In 1944, the First Baptist Church purchased the mission, and members voted to pay for a fulltime pastor for the Mexican Baptist Mission. By 1955, members erected a new mission building, and in 1980, it was constituted as Primera Iglesia Bautista. Members have had a long history of service regionally and nationally. They have given gifts to orphanages in San Antonio and Alaska and to children's homes in Round Rock and in South Texas; made donations to the local African American Baptist church; opened a kindergarten; and helped in nursing homes. The Woman's Missionary Union also aided victims of a 1988 hurricane in Mexico. Additionally, the church was involved in the creation of Zephyr Encampment on Lake Corpus Christi. Today, First Baptist Church continues to act as a spiritual leader in the community of Mathis. (2007)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake Corpus Christi State Park — 3.2 mi
  A lake park in the South Texas brush country above Mathis, on a reservoir of the Nueces, with a Civilian Conservation Corps refectory and more than 200 bird species.
• Lipantitlán State Historic Site — 8.8 mi
  Five undeveloped acres on the Nueces named for the Lipan Apaches who camped here, where Mexico built an earth-and-rail fort that Texans took early in the Revolution.
• Texas State Aquarium — 33 mi
  A nonprofit aquarium on the tip of Corpus Christi Beach built around the Gulf and the Caribbean, with the largest coastal wildlife rescue center in Texas behind the exhibits.
• Art Museum of South Texas — 33 mi
  Philip Johnson's 1972 museum on the Corpus Christi bayfront, joined in 2006 by Ricardo Legorreta's Miller Wing, holding more than 2,000 works mostly from Texas and the Americas.

More markers nearby

• Thomas Henry Mathis Ranch — 1.7 mi
• Echo Stagecoach Depot and Post Office — 6.3 mi
• Lagarto Cemetery — 7.9 mi
• Site of the Home of James McGloin — 8.7 mi