First Baptist Church of Belton
Belton, Bell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The First Baptist Church of Belton was organized in the summer of 1853 under the leadership of the Rev. Solomon G. O'Bryan and the Rev. David Fisher. There were eight charter members, and the congregation met in a small frame building on Pearl Street on the north side of Nolan Creek. Early visiting preachers included John Clabaugh and Judge R.E. B. Baylor. Clabaugh was called as permanent pastor of the church in 1856 and held services once a month until the beginning of the Civil War. Visiting ministers served the congregation during the war. A revival held in 1864 at the courthouse by the Rev. W.W. Harris resulted in many new members for the church. The Rev. M.V.Smith began an eighteen-year pastorate in Belton in January 1875. The congregation, which had been meeting in other churches, built a stone structure on the east side of Main Street, south of the present church buildings. After the stone church was destroyed by fire in 1947, construction began on the present structure at 506 N. Main. The facilities have been enlarged over the years to serve the growing congregation. With service to its congregation and the community, the church has contributed to Belton's history. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The First Baptist Church of Belton was organized in the summer of 1853 with just eight charter members, meeting in a small frame building beside Nolan Creek. Early visiting preachers included the noted judge and Baptist leader R.E.B. Baylor, and a wartime revival in 1864 swelled the congregation during the Civil War years. After an eighteen-year pastorate under M.V. Smith and the loss of a stone church to fire in 1947, the congregation built its present home on North Main.
Why it matters
The church traces the enduring role of frontier congregations in anchoring community life across the settlement, war, and growth of central Texas.
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Related people
- · Solomon G. O'Bryan
- · David Fisher
- · R.E.B. Baylor
- · M.V. Smith
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First United Methodist Church of Belton
Belton, TX
Founded in 1850, the same year Bell County was created, this Methodist congregation began on a frontier circuit before settling into a home of its own. By the 1880s the flock had outgrown its first building, and in 1884–86 members raised this larger Gothic-detailed sanctuary from locally made brick set on a native stone foundation. The original steeple came down in a 1925 remodeling.
Early Bell County Jail
Belton, TX
A two-story log jail first stood on this site in 1854, replaced in 1873 by this building of native limestone. In 1874 vigilantes gathered from across Texas raided the jail and executed nine men held on charges of murder, robbery, and horse theft—an act contemporaries credited with helping end the region's lawlessness. The building later served the city of Belton before being sold, and was recorded as a Texas Historic Landmark in 1967.
Ele B. Baggett Home
Belton, TX
Ele Bright Baggett and his wife Mary Carolyn began this ornate Queen Anne house in 1892, its gable sunbursts and fish-scale shingles announcing the prosperity of a Bell County cattle family. Ele, his brother, and their father had come home from the Civil War to drive great herds north to the railheads of Kansas and Montana, and Ele parlayed the profits into land, cotton gins, and banking. His father Silas had been among Belton's founders, and the family home stood just across the street.
William Whitaker Reed
Belton, TX
William Whitaker Reed came to Texas from Tennessee in 1833 and joined Robertson's colony, taking land along the Little River just as the Texas Revolution swept the region. His family fled in the 'Runaway Scrape,' and he and his brother enlisted in the Republic of Texas Army, helping bury the remains of Fannin's men massacred at Goliad. Settling permanently after the war, Reed helped organize Bell County in 1850 and served as its first sheriff.