Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan

The plaque follows Ibarra from Matamoros to Bryan. His name stayed on the map. Bryan's council later voted unanimously to rename San Jacinto Park, the site of the Mexican school, as Ibarra Park, and the county marked Ibarra School there in a ceremony on November 2, 2013. The church's own marker was dedicated on December 14, 2024. Member Betty Martinez, whose family has attended for five generations, applied for it; the church had hoped to receive it in 2022.

What the plaque says

Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan The Reverend Guillermo Ibarra (1876-1929) organized Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan. Born in Matamoros, Mexico, Ibarra moved to Martindale around 1890. He converted to Protestantism there. Between 1890 and 1903, he spent years in trade school, learning the skills of a printer, barber and plumber. Throughout his life, Ibarra would take on work in these trades to supplement finances. He married Heriberta Gallardo. Around 1911, the family moved to Bryan and Ibarra saw there was a need for Spanish-speaking religious teaching. He began church services on the porch of the town undertaker, Isaac Hernandez. The family began a relationship with First Baptist Church Bryan. Annie l. Batte offered her rent home at 707 N. Parker St. as a permanent meeting place; a church building was later constructed on the same lot. Primera Iglesia Bautista Mexicana de Bryan was organized in 1922. As the only focused Spanish-speaking church, the congregation became known as a refuge for Hispanics. After a 1920s Brazos River flood, the Rev. Ibarra allowed more than 40 displaced workers to camp out on his yard. He created a bridge between civic officials and the Mexican community. Ibarra tragically died on April 10, 1929. In 1935, a new Mexican school was named Ibarra Primary School in his honor. Several faithful pastors such as Joel Garcia, Victor Gonzalez, Gilberto Rodriguez served the church after Ibarra's death. In 1954, under the leadership of the Reverend Pablo Flores the church held services in its new building at 1009 N. Sims Ave. In 1976, the church dedicated the Guillermo Ibarra Fellowship Hall. Since 1922, the church has enriched the Hispanic community of Bryan. Members fondly remember Christmas programs, youth classes and outreaches to Mexican migrant workers. (2022)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum — 6.1 mi
  The library of the forty-first president on the Texas A&M campus, opened in 1997, where George and Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin are buried in a family plot on the grounds.
• Navasota — 27 mi
  A railroad and cotton town where the La Bahia Road crossed the Navasota River, scarred by an 1865 explosion and yellow fever, and the home ground of the songster Mance Lipscomb.
• Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site — 27 mi
  A cedar-log dogtrot cabin of 1834 on the road through Anderson that grew into a seventeen-room inn and post office for travelers of the Republic, kept by one family until 1976.
• Calvert — 27 mi
  A railroad cotton town of 1868 on State Highway 6 that claimed the largest cotton gin in the world and elected Black men to county and state office during Reconstruction.

More markers nearby

• Bryan City Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Confederate Veterans in Bryan City Cemetery — 0.4 mi
• Black Education in Bryan — 0.5 mi
• Allen Chapel A. M. E. Church — 0.5 mi