First Baptist Church of Nocona
Nocona, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in the summer of 1889 by The Rev. J.W. Holman and thirteen charter members, the Nocona Baptist Church first met in a local schoolhouse. The Rev. S.E. West served as first pastor. A sanctuary was completed in 1897, and in 1903 the name was changed to First Baptist Church. A new sanctuary replaced the 1897 structure in 1927. Over the years this congregation has been involved in many outreach projects, including the organization of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Nocona and the support of foreign missionary activities. (1989)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in the summer of 1889 by Rev. J.W. Holman and thirteen charter members, this North Texas congregation first gathered in a local schoolhouse with Rev. S.E. West as its first pastor. It completed a sanctuary in 1897, took the name First Baptist Church in 1903, and replaced the older building with a new one in 1927. Over the decades it planted another church in Nocona and supported missionary work abroad.
Why it matters
Small-town Baptist churches such as this were cornerstones of community life across the settling frontier of Texas, shaping local culture well beyond Sunday worship.
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Related people
- ¡ J.W. Holman
- ¡ S.E. West
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Central Christian Church
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Built in 1894, six years after the Rev. M. F. Smith gathered the congregation, this sanctuary rose as one of the first Gothic Revival churches on the North Texas frontier. Its steeply pitched gables, pointed lancet windows, and fine interior woodwork brought a touch of old-world architecture to a young prairie town. The building earned recognition as a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962.
Red River Station
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Established in 1861 near a major buffalo and Indian crossing, Red River Station was a Civil War frontier outpost where local soldiers, families, and Texas Frontier Regiment cavalry guarded the settlement's edge against raids and possible Union incursion from Indian Territory. Chronically short of supplies, its Confederates and state rangers patrolled a vast frontier line, and after the war the crossing became a key point on the cattle trails north.
Molsbee Chapel Cemetery
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Starkey Cemetery
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