First Baptist Church of Pharr
Pharr, Hidalgo County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church was established by seven charter members in 1913. The Rev. A. J. Seale served as first pastor. Early worship services were held in a school building until 1916 when a sanctuary was built on land set aside by the Pharr Townsite Company. A Sunday School, youth organization, and Women's Missionary Society were organized. The congregation, which helped establish two local Hispanic churches, has added several facilities over the years. A new sanctuary was built here in 1994. First Baptist Church of Pharr continues to serve the area with a variety of outreach programs. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
First Baptist Church of Pharr began with seven charter members in 1913, worshiping in a school building until a sanctuary rose in 1916 on land set aside by the Pharr Townsite Company. The congregation organized a Sunday school, youth group, and missionary society, and helped establish two local Hispanic churches. A new sanctuary was built in 1994.
Why it matters
It reflects the church-centered growth of the Rio Grande Valley's early-20th-century townsite communities.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First Pharr School
Pharr, TX
When this one-story building went up in 1911, it became the first school in the young town of Pharr, deep in the Rio Grande Valley. Built by local contractor John Bales, it doubled as a community church and watched its enrollment leap from nine students to nearly eighty in just four years. By 1915 the growing town had joined with San Juan to build a larger school, and this structure went on to serve as a home and, later, a convalescent center.
First Pharr-San Juan-Alamo School
Pharr, TX
The joint school district of Pharr and San Juan began this building in 1915, opening it for the 1916–17 year with 143 students, twelve teachers, and a graduating class of nine. Renamed the Pharr-San Juan district in 1919, it later folded in the town of Alamo, whose name was formally added in 1959. The building became Jefferson Junior High in 1961 and, in 1979, Memorial Junior High in honor of all Pharr-San Juan-Alamo veterans.
Buell School
Pharr, TX
Built in 1927-28, this school served Mexican-American children in the segregated Pharr-San Juan district, replacing an earlier facility on the site. It was named for educator Helen W. Buell, principal of the Pharr Mexican Ward School, and designed by noted San Antonio architect Harvey Smith with restrained Classical Revival touches. Its very existence reflects the separate schooling long imposed on Mexican-American students in South Texas.
Saint Paul Lutheran Church
McAllen, TX
Organized in Pharr in 1916 by the Rev. Paul Birkman and five charter members, this Lutheran congregation moved to McAllen the following year, holding its early services in German inside the local Methodist church. The Lutherans bought a former church building in 1919, later added a parochial school in 1943, and in 1952 purchased a 20-acre site for a new sanctuary and school. Its German-language worship reflects the immigrant roots of many Rio Grande Valley settlers.