Welcome Lutheran Church

Anglo-American settlers had lived along Pecan Creek since the late 1820s, but the place was still nameless in 1852, when German immigrants began arriving quickly. One of their leaders, J. F. Schmidt, a former schoolmaster from Oldenburg, named it Welcome for the pleasant country and the hospitality of the people already there. Schmidt organized a singing society, and a school went up on the right bank of the creek near the center of the settlement. A post office opened in 1871. The population fell to about sixty by 1950 and recovered to 175 by 1965.

What the plaque says

Welcome Lutheran Church Organized March 28, 1869, with 12 charter members. Two of these gave site for a house of worship. Erected in 1869, it was rebuilt here in 1898, 1900 (following destruction by hurricane), and 1954. Some of original fixtures and 1878 bell are still in use. (1970)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Independence and Old Baylor Park — 21 mi
  A crossroads north of Brenham that was the richest town in Texas when it won Baylor University in 1845, refused the railroad, and lost the college to Waco and Belton in 1886.
• Lake Somerville State Park and Trailway — 21 mi
  Two park units on an 11,000-acre lake between Austin and College Station, joined by a thirteen-mile trailway for hikers, cyclists and riders with primitive camps along the way.
• Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site — 28 mi
  The townsite on the Brazos where delegates met in a cold, unfinished hall in March 1836 to declare Texas independent, with Independence Hall rebuilt and Anson Jones's Barrington farm worked as in 1850.
• Star of the Republic Museum — 28 mi
  A star-shaped museum of the Republic of Texas years, 1836 to 1846, built at Washington-on-the-Brazos after a Brenham campaign and opened on March 1, 1970.

More markers nearby

• Haynie-Embrey House — 2.3 mi
• McGregor Cemetery (Scottish Presbyterian Cemetery) — 3.5 mi
• Industry — 4.5 mi
• Friedrich Ernst — 4.5 mi