Galilee Missionary Baptist Church

The plaque says the Rev. D. S. Bailey worked with Acres Homes' school and civic leaders until 1977; Diana Kleiner's Handbook entry names the community's fights of those years. Resident George F. Sampson took the Aldine school district to court for discriminating against his sons. He won in 1964, though the district did not integrate until 1965. In 1970 a group of ministers persuaded the federal housing department to build Lincoln Park, 264 low-income units. Six years later, run down, it was repossessed by HUD, and it reopened in 1986 after a $4.2 million federal investment.

What the plaque says

Galilee Missionary Baptist Church Galilee Missionary Baptist Church is located in the community of Acres (Acre) Homes, developed beginning in 1910 by the Wright Land Company. The company sold plots of land for low prices, making it affordable for many families. By the 1930s, a large majority of those living in the neighborhood were African American. In the following decades, Acres Homes experienced significant population and business growth. The Rev. D. Hartman organized Galilee Missionary Baptist Church in 1913, with services held under a brush arbor. By 1915, the Wright Land Company sold land located at the church's current site to church trustees, and members began construction of a new building. In the following years, under the leadership of the Rev. Jack C. Smith, members formed many auxiliaries and held traditional events such as Juneteenth celebrations, homecoming and the church's anniversary. The Rev. D.S. Bailey served as pastor of the church from 1947 until his death in 1977, and under his leadership the church experienced tremendous growth. Bailey worked with community, political, school and business leaders in Acres Homes during his tenure. In 1979, the city of Houston passed an ordinance changing the name of Sherwin Street, on which the church is located, to D.S. Bailey Lane. As membership grew over the years, the church rebuilt several times, including a large sanctuary constructed in 2003. Galilee Missionary Baptist Church remains an important community institution, unifying and serving the residents of Acres Homes and surrounding areas. (2006)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sam Houston Park and the Heritage Society — 7.7 mi
  Ten historic buildings gathered in a downtown park below the skyscrapers, among them the 1870 house of the Reverend Jack Yates, built five years after emancipation.
• The Menil Collection — 8.6 mi
  John and Dominique de Menil's free museum in Montrose: a grey-sided Renzo Piano building among bungalows, holding antiquities, Surrealism and art of Oceania under natural light.
• Rothko Chapel — 8.7 mi
  An octagonal chapel open to all faiths, built by the de Menils around fourteen dark canvases by Mark Rothko, with Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk standing in the pool outside.
• Buffalo Soldiers National Museum — 9.1 mi
  A museum in Houston's 1925 Light Guard Armory that tells the service of Black soldiers from the Revolutionary War onward, built from one veteran's thirty years of collecting.

More markers nearby

• Acres Homes Community — 0.3 mi
• Greater Ward A.M.E. Church — 0.3 mi
• Jackson's Barber Shop & Beauty Salon — 3.6 mi
• James D. Burrus Elementary School — 3.7 mi