Saint John United Church of Christ

Robinson began as Robinsonville. John Robinson arrived in 1852 from Demopolis, Alabama, with his family and six enslaved people, and his brother Levi followed in 1854 with four more. After emancipation the Black community grew quickly. In 1881 John's son Edward gave just under five acres to Millie Stewart, who had been enslaved in the family, on condition that the land be used for education. In 1882 the community finished St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church and Post Oak Academy. The Handbook counts the German Evangelical Lutheran church of 1884 among the town's three.

What the plaque says

Saint John United Church of Christ German native Herman Staas, who settled here in 1882, was instrumental in persuading other Germans to migrate to the Robinson area. In 1884 the pioneers established this congregation under the leadership of the Rev. Christian Schaer of Waco. Services were held in homes and in the Presbyterian Sanctuary until the first building was completed in 1890. The first resident Pastor here was the Rev. John Strauss, who served from 1900 to 1940. Although the last German service was conducted in 1959, the church continues to reflect the ideals and traditions of its founders. (1983)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Armstrong Browning Library — 5.0 mi
  A three-story Italian Renaissance library on the Baylor campus built to hold A. J. Armstrong's Browning collection, dedicated in December 1951 and now, by its own account, the world's largest of Browning material.
• Dr Pepper Museum — 5.8 mi
  The 1906 bottling plant of the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, built where Dr Pepper outgrew a Waco drugstore soda fountain, now the Dr Pepper Museum.
• Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum — 5.9 mi
  The official state repository of Texas Ranger memorabilia, opened in 1968 in Fort Fisher Park on the Brazos, named for a Ranger post of 1837 whose site no one has located.
• Waco Suspension Bridge — 6.3 mi
  A Brazos crossing opened in January 1870 as the longest single-span suspension bridge west of the Mississippi, tolled until 1889, closed to vehicles in 1971 and now walked.

More markers nearby

• Zion United Church of Christ — 2.5 mi
• Fletcher Cemetery — 2.8 mi
• Mount Pleasant Missionary Baptist Church — 2.9 mi
• Downsville Baptist Church — 3.2 mi