First Baptist Church of Rockdale
Rockdale, Milam County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The community of Rockdale sprang up around a railroad camp in 1873. The Rev. B. B. Baxter arrived in 1874 and established a Baptist church with 18 charter members. The Rev. Mr. Baxter conducted services in a room above a dry goods store shared with other denominations. He was succeeded by the Rev. Vandevere, on the 18 chartered members, in 1876. At the urging of rival leader W. E. Penn and the Rev. Dr. J. H. Stripling, a simple structure was erected for worship services in 1881. A new building was erected on this site in 1919. The church grew steadily; a Latin American mission established in the 1950s became a full southern baptist church complex was built in 1972. The congregation remains active in community service and missionary work. (1999)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Rockdale grew up around a railroad camp in 1873, and the following year the Rev. B. B. Baxter gathered 18 charter members into a Baptist congregation that first met in a room above a dry-goods store. A simple sanctuary went up in 1881, replaced by a new building in 1919 as the church grew with the town. A Latin American mission begun in the 1950s later became its own Southern Baptist congregation.
Why it matters
The church's growth alongside a railroad town illustrates how frontier congregations followed the rails that stitched together and settled central Texas.
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Related people
- · B. B. Baxter
- · W. E. Penn
Themes & tags
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