First Baptist Church of West Orange

Two pastors left this pulpit for the army. According to the Orange Leader, the Reverend Anderson resigned during World War I to serve as a chaplain and took three missionaries with him, and the Reverend G. C. Griffin resigned during World War II to become an army chaplain. The paper dates the church's founding to June 22, 1902, and says the City of Orange proclaimed June 22 a day of celebration for it. It also says the congregation gave out food and supplies during hurricanes, and that three churches grew from it, McDonald Baptist in West Orange among them.

What the plaque says

First Baptist Church of West Orange After a series of successful revivals held by the Reverend T.H. Feagin, 16 residents formed what would become First Baptist Church of West Orange in 1902. The Reverend W.G. Derrington served as the first pastor. During the first year, the church met in a small school building. In 1903, the congregation built a one-room church on Fourth Street (later Dayton Street). New facilities were built in 1922, 1942 and 1986. The congregation established local mission churches: Winfree Baptist Church, McDonald Memorial Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church. Through its work, the church has had a significant impact on the community and region. (2023)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stark Museum of Art — 1.1 mi
  A white-marble museum in Orange built by the Stark Foundation and opened in 1978, holding Western art, American Indian art, Audubon's Birds of America and Steuben glass, free to enter.
• Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center — 1.2 mi
  More than 250 acres on Adams Bayou, begun by H. J. Lutcher Stark in 1937, with garden rooms, a cypress-tupelo swamp, a heronry blind and free pontoon tours in season.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 18 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 20 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• Emma George Latchem — 0.6 mi
• Robert B. Russell — 0.6 mi
• First National Bank of Orange — 0.7 mi
• Samuel Wallace Sholars, M.D. — 0.7 mi