First Baptist Church of Milford

Milford at full stretch is the setting for this church. The Handbook of Texas says the town incorporated in 1888 with W. R. McDaniel as first mayor, and in 1890 the Dallas and Waco Railway arrived, making Milford a shipping point for cotton farmers. By 1892 it had around 800 people, three churches, a weekly paper called the Courier, a bank, a hotel, two gins and some two dozen other businesses. Two schools served the town: Mollie Poe's private Lone Star Institute and the community-financed Milford Academy. The Handbook says the town flourished for twenty years after 1902.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of Milford Chartered in 1855 with eleven members, this congregation was organized at the home of Dr. J. M. Higgins. The first pastor was the Rev. J.M. Perry (1817-1905), a native of Alabama. A chapel on College Street, built in 1856, served the fellowship until 1871, when the church was moved to this site. The property was deeded to the First Baptist and Cumberland Presbyterian congregations, who financed the construction of a sanctuary here. Separate Baptist church structures were built here in 1890 and 1917. Former pastors include prominent state and national Baptist leaders. (1980)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Hill County Courthouse — 13 mi
  Wesley C. Dodson's limestone Second Empire courthouse of 1890 on the Hillsboro square, gutted by fire on New Year's Day 1993 and rededicated in 1999 after a rebuilding that two Willie Nelson concerts helped pay for.
• Ellis County Courthouse — 19 mi
  J. Riely Gordon's courthouse of 1897 in Pecos red sandstone and pink granite, with twenty-one carved stone faces and two cornerstones left by a quarrel over its building.

More markers nearby

• Milford Presbyterian Church — steps away
• Milford Cemetery — 0.2 mi
• Hammel's Branch — 3.4 mi
• Italy Colored City Hall — 4.9 mi