Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church

After emancipation most Black Texans who went to church became Baptists. Baptist belief in salvation open to all who repented, baptism by immersion in creeks and rivers, informal worship with singing and shouting, and above all congregational self-government appealed to people who had had enough of control. Black Texans formed their first district association in 1868 and a statewide convention in 1875, and by 1890 the Baptist state convention counted 111,138 members. In 1893 a fight over White mission control of Black colleges split Black Baptists into two state conventions.

What the plaque says

Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church ORGANIZED IN THE 1920s, THIS CONGREGATION IS THE OLDEST SURVIVING WITH ORIGINS IN DEL RIO'S AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY. MEMBERS FIRST HELD SERVICES IN THE A.M.E. METHODIST CHURCH BEFORE SECURING THEIR OWN PROPERTY ON PEIRCE STREET ON MAY 15, 1922. REV. JAMES FENNELL DIRECTED THIS IMPORTANT STEP AND LED THE CHURCH FROM 1922 TO 1958. DESPITE MANY HARDSHIPS, THE CHURCH GREW IN MEMBERSHIP AND FINANCES. THE SANCTUARY WAS REMODELED AND ENLARGED IN THE 1940s. IN 1974, THE CONGREGATION MOVED AGAIN, THIS TIME TO THE FORMER GRACE LUTHERAN CHURCH. MEMBERS CONTINUE TO ENRICH THE COMMUNITY IN WORSHIP AND SERVICE. (2013)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• San Felipe Creek — 1.2 mi
  The spring-fed creek that made Del Rio, rising from the third largest springs in Texas and running past swimming holes and a hike-and-bike trail through town.
• Whitehead Memorial Museum — 1.4 mi
  A village of old Del Rio buildings set along a working irrigation canal, from an 1870 store to a 1925 doctor's office, with Judge Roy Bean buried on the grounds.
• Val Verde Winery — 1.8 mi
  The family winery an Italian immigrant founded on Del Rio's irrigated land in 1883, which outlasted Prohibition by selling table grapes and kept Texas wine alive into the 1970s.
• Amistad National Recreation Area — 8.2 mi
  The American side of the reservoir the United States and Mexico finished in 1969 where three rivers meet, with painted shelters still reachable by boat when the water allows.

More markers nearby

• The Carter Family in Del Rio — steps away
• Paul Kallinger — 0.2 mi
• Operation Brass Knob — 0.2 mi
• First Baptist Church of Del Rio — 0.6 mi