First Baptist Church of Bartlett
Bartlett, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Originally known as Pecan Grove Baptist Church, this fellowship was organized in 1873 by the Rev. M.V. Smith, The Rev. H.I. Kimball, and the Rev. G.W. Baines, great-grandfather of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson. In 1884 the church was moved to Bartlett from the Pecan Grove community (3 mi. W) and the congregational name was changed. Members built a one-room frame sanctuary which was shared with a local Methodist fellowship during the 1890s. When the membership outgrew the facility a new wooden structure was built at this location in 1900. The property here was donated to the fellowship by German immigrant J.E. Pietzsch (1844-1924) and his wife Margaret (1848-1929), pioneer area settlers and members of St. John's Lutheran Church. Continued growth led to the construction of a larger sanctuary here in 1930. Built by the Brownwood firm of Moore and Hale, the brick sanctuary was finished during the pastorate of the Rev. W.M. Lanier. Six years after completion of the structure, church members had contributed the funds to pay the total cost of construction. The event was celebrated with a special note-burning ceremony here on Sunday morning, December 13, 1936. (1981)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1873 as Pecan Grove Baptist Church, this congregation was organized by three ministers including G.W. Baines, great-grandfather of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The fellowship moved into Bartlett in 1884, sharing an early sanctuary with local Methodists and building on land donated by German immigrant settlers. Successive sanctuaries culminated in a 1930 brick church, paid off and celebrated with a note-burning ceremony in 1936.
Why it matters
The church's story weaves together frontier faith, German immigrant settlement, and a family tie to a future U.S. president, mapping the growth of small-town central Texas.
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Related people
- · M.V. Smith
- · G.W. Baines
- · Lyndon Baines Johnson
- · J.E. Pietzsch
- · W.M. Lanier
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
St. John Lutheran Church
Bartlett, TX
German immigrant families brought Lutheran worship to this part of Bell County, first gathering in the home of settler J. E. Pietzsch. A school and church rose in 1880 on land given by John Bartlett, the congregation formally organized as St. John Lutheran Church in 1883, and the Rev. Immanuel Glatzle arrived a year later as its first resident pastor. Though a 1922 fire destroyed its early records, the church rebuilt, and in 1951 dedicated what was then the largest pipe organ in any Texas Lutheran church.
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Saints Cyril and Methodius Catholic School
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In 1899 the Czech and Moravian parishioners of Saints Cyril and Methodius Church founded a school for their children, and from 1901 the Sisters of Divine Providence supplied its teachers. As enrollment grew, a small frame schoolhouse gave way to larger brick buildings. Though classes are no longer taught in Czech, the school still reflects the immigrant heritage that created it.
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