First Baptist Church of Mixon
Jacksonville, Cherokee County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The first church in this area, then known as Pine Springs, was established as an ecumenical church in 1853. The Rev. E. M. Carter and Elias Stephens, a deacon, established the Union Baptist Church in 1866 with 15 members, all formerly of the earlier congregation. The church was renamed Pine Springs Baptist Church in 1881. Members erected a white frame building on this site in 1887. The community was renamed Mixon when a post office was established in 1889. The Rev. W. R. White, later president of Baylor University, served the church from 1911 to 1913. The settlement grew over the next several years. In 1946 the church was renamed First Baptist Church of Mixon. A new building was erected in 1952. Among the last vestiges of Mixon, the church continues in the traditions of its founders. (2000)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The first church in the Pine Springs area began as an ecumenical congregation in 1853, and in 1866—just after the Civil War—the Rev. E.M. Carter and deacon Elias Stephens organized it as Union Baptist Church with fifteen members. Renamed and rebuilt over the years, it saw future Baylor University president W.R. White serve as pastor from 1911 to 1913. The community itself took the name Mixon in 1889, and the church, renamed First Baptist Church of Mixon in 1946, endures as one of the settlement's last landmarks.
Why it matters
The church chronicles the founding and slow fading of a small East Texas farming community, carrying its founders' traditions long after the town around it dwindled.
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Related people
- · E.M. Carter
- · Elias Stephens
- · W.R. White
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Mixon Cemetery
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Settlers from Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas founded the Pine Springs community — later Mixon — in the 1850s, and in 1853 Josiah Thomas set aside land for churches and religious use. The cemetery's oldest marked grave dates to 1854, with many early burials marked by local red iron-ore rock, and tradition holds that members of local Indian tribes lie in unmarked graves. More than 125 veterans rest here, from the War of 1812 to the present, including twenty-two Confederate soldiers.
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