First Baptist Church Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Wise County, Texas
Marker Inscription
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH BRIDGEPORT IN 1882, REV. ALPHUS HAWKINS, W. W. CANNON AND 23 CHARTER MEMBERS STARTED THIS CHURCH IN OLD TOWN BRIDGEPORT. AFTER MEETING IN THE SCHOOLHOUSE AND TWO OTHER SITES, THE CHURCH MOVED TO THEIR OWN ONE-ROOM BUILDING HERE IN 1895. COAL MINING, CATTLE RANCHING AND THE RAILROAD BROUGHT GROWTH. BY 1920 THE CHURCH HAD 300 MEMBERS AND THE WOMEN’S MISSIONARY UNION SPONSORED BLANCHE GROVES AS THE CHURCH’S FIRST MISSIONARY TO CHINA. CAMPUS ADDITIONS INCLUDED A NEW SANCTUARY (1925), EDUCATION BUILDING (1947), WORSHIP CENTER (1959), FAMILY LIFE CENTER (1980) AND NEW EDUCATION BUILDING (2000). FIRST BAPTIST HAS SPONSORED THREE MISSIONS (CATES ST. BAPTIST CHURCH, EL CALVARIO BAUTISTA AND FIRST BAPTIST OF RUNAWAY BAY) AND HAS SUPPORTED MANY OTHER AREA ENDEAVORS. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First Baptist Church of Bridgeport was founded in 1882 by Rev. Alphus Hawkins, W.W. Cannon, and twenty-three charter members in old Bridgeport, moving to its own one-room building in 1895. Coal mining, cattle ranching, and the railroad swelled the town, and by 1920 the congregation numbered three hundred and had sent Blanche Groves as its first missionary to China. Decades of new sanctuaries and education buildings, along with three sponsored missions, chart the church's growth alongside its Wise County community.
Why it matters
The church's rise tracks the boom of a North Texas coal-and-railroad town, showing how industry and faith grew hand in hand on the settling frontier.
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Related people
- · Alphus Hawkins
- · Blanche Groves
Themes & tags
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