Toliver Chapel Baptist Church

Interurban cars once interrupted services at this church, and the Handbook of Texas explains the industry. The Texas Electric Railway, chartered July 15, 1916, ran 226 miles and was the longest interurban between the Mississippi River and California. One route ran from Dallas through Hillsboro to Waco, carrying mostly passengers plus mail and express. By 1942 it was the last independent interurban in Texas, and it was abandoned on December 31, 1948. The plaque does not name the company whose cars ran on Price Street, so this may or may not be that line.

What the plaque says

Toliver Chapel Baptist Church This congregation grew out of a Sunday school class led by the Rev. I. Toliver, a highly-respected Baptist minister and civic leader in Waco's African American community. The Rev. Toliver, for whom the church is named, organized the Toliver Chapel Baptist Church in July 1895. The Rev. J. Cole was called as first pastor. The church purchased slightly more than four acres in east Waco from W.M. Walton in 1896. The congregation remained at that location until about 1900 when they moved to a sanctuary built across Price Street from this site. Early church members recalled that services were often interrupted by the sounds of interurban rail cars which ran along Price Street. The church prospered and in 1917 a new sanctuary was erected to accommodate an expanding membership. The church continued to grow and by the early 1940s boasted more than 1,100 members. In 1948 a new church building was erected at this site. Facilities which have been added over the years include an educational building and a music chapel. Several prominent area citizens have been members of this congregation. Toliver Chapel Baptist Church continues to maintain active outreach and youth programs in the community. Sesquicentennial of Texas Statehood 1845-1995

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Waco Suspension Bridge — 1.2 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.
• Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum — 1.3 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.
• Dr Pepper Museum — 1.6 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.
• Armstrong Browning Library — 2.2 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.

More markers nearby

• Paul Quinn College — 0.4 mi
• Doris Miller — 0.4 mi
• Site of First Church Building in Waco — 1.2 mi
• Jacob De Cordova — 1.2 mi