First Baptist Church of Malakoff
Malakoff, Henderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The St. Louis and Southwestern Railroad built a line through Malakoff in 1880. In 1883 a Union church organized by the Reverend Hezekiah Mitcham, which served both Baptist and Methodists, relocated to a site near the railroad. According to local legend, denominational differences which occurred within the church established by Mitcham resulted in thirty-six of its members establishing this Baptist church in 1884. They called themselves the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ. A church building was erected in early 1885 on a town lot owned by W. L. Evans and in 1891 a Sunday School was organized. The sanctuary also served as a community center and provided classroom space on a temporary basis. A new sanctuary was erected at this site in 1894 on land donated by W. A. Martin of Missouri. Membership in the congregation had grown to 152 by 1917, and in 1918 a new frame church building was erected here. The congregation established a Hispanic mission in 1925. The 1918 church building was replaced with a new brick sanctuary in 1954. The congregation added a parsonage in 1964, an education building in 1971, an auditorium in 1982 and homes for a Hispanic mission in 1990. The church continues to serve the community with various programs and activities. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
After the railroad reached Malakoff in 1880, a union congregation serving both Baptists and Methodists relocated near the tracks — and in 1884, the story goes, denominational differences led thirty-six members to found their own Baptist church. They built a sanctuary in 1885 that doubled as a community center and schoolroom, organized a Sunday School, and grew steadily, later establishing a Hispanic mission and raising successively larger buildings across the twentieth century.
Why it matters
The church's long life mirrors how railroad towns organized themselves, with congregations serving as the schoolhouses and social centers that held new communities together.
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Related people
- · Hezekiah Mitcham
- · W. L. Evans
- · W. A. Martin
Themes & tags
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