First Baptist Church of Poteet
Poteet, Atascosa County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Prior to 1856, settlers around Gallinas gathered on Sundays in each others’ homes to worship the Lord. As numbers grew, they met at Shiloh at a log building used for school and church on Borrego Creek. Seminary student William Dycks Johnson (1838-1885) is credited with starting Shiloh Baptist Church during a hiatus from Baylor University. The church organized in June 1856 with ten members at the organizational meeting. Samuel Ellis Pearce was pastor in 1859. By the early 1900s, Shiloh Baptist Church outgrew their building and looked for a larger facility to house Sunday school classes. A committee met with another historic congregation, Gates Valley Baptist Church, to discuss the option of merging churches. In Jan. 1913, the churches agreed, and the Gates Valley building was moved to Poteet. It was placed on a corner lot on Avenue E donated by the Town Site Company of Poteet. The sanctuary’s large space was divided into rooms by hanging quilts made by women of the church. James Wesley yow was called as the first pastor to lead First Baptist Church of Poteet in late 1913. The church grew in its early years, bolstered by a Baptist training union under direction of Mrs. T. F. Bledsoe and Sunday School under leadership of Brother O. N. Crouch. Seeing that a larger building was needed, members voted in 1936 to relocate, buying six lots at 4th Street and Avenue D. Some lumber from the former church was used in the new building. In 1943, the church bought a home belonging to Mrs. Katy L. Bevins for a parsonage. Expansions and renovations have updated the campus to meet the needs of the congregation. First Baptist Church of Poteet has fostered the spiritual development of its members and neighbors through community outreach and church planting such as the Spanish speaking mission program that started Hosanna Baptist Church.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Settlers around Gallinas first worshiped in one another's homes before gathering at a Borrego Creek log building that served as both school and church. In June 1856 ten members organized Shiloh Baptist Church, credited to seminary student William Dycks Johnson; decades later, in 1913, Shiloh merged with Gates Valley Baptist and moved the building to Poteet, dividing its sanctuary into rooms with hanging quilts. Renamed First Baptist Church of Poteet, it grew through the 20th century and planted new congregations.
Why it matters
The church's story captures how frontier faith communities pooled scarce resources—sharing buildings, merging congregations, and sewing quilt walls—to sustain worship on the South Texas frontier.
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Themes & tags
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