Mother Zion Missionary Baptist Church

Mother Zion's story is one of debt. On December 27, 1906 trustees bought a lot on Avenue B from G. M. Magill for $50, and in February 1907 they signed a deed of trust with the Alamo Lumber Company. Basil Tolson preached the first sermon in the new frame church on June 19, 1907. The hurricane of July 21, 1909 destroyed it, and under Rev. H. C. Cashaw the members rebuilt on a loan that four trustees backed, cleared on May 24, 1921. A brick sanctuary begun in 1950 was paid off in September 1952, nearly eight years early.

What the plaque says

Mother Zion Missionary Baptist Church The Rev. Basil Tolson, an African American farmer in eastern Matagorda county, joined with his neighbors in 1887 to form a Baptist congregation which they named Mount Zion Baptist Church. Tolson was elected pastor, and served the congregation until he moved to Bay City in 1905. In 1906 Tolson led a small group of people in organizing mother Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Bay City. Charter members of the church included Isaac Wiggins, Manuel Mills, Simon White, Martin Hardin, Allen Frazier, John Tolson, Birdie Tolson, Harriet Peters, Nellie White, George Edward McNeel, and Amanda Tolson. The Rev. Basil Tolson served as first pastor of the congregation, and his brother, John Tolson, was elected superintendent of the Sunday School. The Congregation's First Sanctuary, built in 1907 by the Alamo Lumber company, was destroyed in a 1909 hurricane. The members quickly rebuilt, however, and eventually erected larger structures to house church programs. Throughout its history, the church has been active in community and foreign outreach programs, including aid to the poor and educational programs for youth. The church continues to play an integral role in the religious life of Bay City citizens. (1994)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Levi Jordan Plantation State Historic Site — 20 mi
  A sugar and cotton plantation on the San Bernard River whose enslaved builders and their descendants left one of the best-preserved African American archeological sites in Texas.
• Varner-Hogg Plantation State Historic Site — 24 mi
  A Brazos sugar plantation built by enslaved people for the Patton family, later leased convict labor and Hogg family oil, now told through Rachel Patton and Sarah Ford.

More markers nearby

• First Baptist Church of Bay City — 0.4 mi
• St. Mark's Episcopal Church — 0.4 mi
• Site of Hilliard High School — 0.4 mi
• Bay City Methodist Church — 0.5 mi