Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church

Before it was Mount Pisgah, the congregation belonged to Holly Springs, a village that took its name from nearby springs. According to the Handbook of Texas, Peter Magnus Gunstream, a Swedish immigrant and one of Wood County's first commissioners, founded it and in 1852 petitioned for a post office, which he held as postmaster until 1866. By 1854 he had a gristmill with an eight-foot overshot waterwheel brought from Jefferson, which cut lumber for the county seat's first courthouse, and by 1869 a cotton gin. The church moved to Mount Pisgah around 1860.

What the plaque says

Mt. Pisgah Baptist Church Started as the Holly Springs Baptist Church of Christ, this fellowship is one of the oldest in Wood County. The first meeting was held on November 18, 1853, at the residence of J. D. J. Davis, who served as pastor. Charter members were Samuel Davis, Peter Magnus Gunstream, and Mary Alitia Gunstream. Early worship services were held in a log building and later in a chapel at Liberty Hill, now Pine Mills (1.5 mi. E). A new sanctuary was built here by 1860 and the church name was changed in 1865. The membership has included many early county leaders. (1981)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Governor Hogg Shrine — 8.9 mi
  Quitman's 27-acre city park, once a state historical park, where two houses tied to James Stephen Hogg's marriage stand beside an arboretum, a nature walk and the grounds of the Old Settlers Reunion.
• Tyler State Park — 18 mi
  A 985-acre park eight miles north of Tyler, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps from 1935 to 1941 around a 64-acre spring-fed lake, with more than 13 miles of trails.
• Camp Ford Historic Park — 24 mi
  A free county park north of Tyler on the site of the largest Confederate prison camp west of the Mississippi, with a kiosk, an interpretive trail and a historical society museum downtown.
• Lake Bob Sandlin State Park — 25 mi
  A 1987 state park on a 9,000-acre reservoir, where a Republic of Texas stockade called Fort Sherman stood in 1838 and the Caddo lived from A.D. 800 to 1860, now with fishing piers, trails and cabins.

More markers nearby

• Martin Varner — 6.0 mi
• Captain Henry Stout — 6.7 mi
• First Election in Wood County — 7.2 mi
• Lillian Richard — 8.0 mi