First Baptist Church of Rockport
Rockport, Aransas County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1873, the First Baptist Church of Rockport originally was located on S. Church Street. L. D. Young served as the first pastor. The hurricane of 1919 destroyed the first church building, but the members built a new structure at the corner of Live Oak and Main Streets the following year. They joined with Rockport's Methodist and Episcopal congregations to form an ecumenical Sunday School. Throughout its history, the First Baptist Church of Rockport has served the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1991)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1873 with L. D. Young as its first pastor, the First Baptist Church of Rockport began on South Church Street in the young coastal town. When the great hurricane of 1919 destroyed its building, members rebuilt the following year at Live Oak and Main, and joined the town's Methodists and Episcopalians in an ecumenical Sunday School. The congregation has served Rockport through worship, education, and outreach ever since.
Why it matters
The church's story — including its rebuilding after the 1919 storm — reflects the resilience of Gulf Coast communities repeatedly tested by hurricanes.
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Related people
- · L. D. Young
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Baldwin-Brundrett House
Rockport, TX
This coastal Queen Anne house, dating in its basic form to the 1880s, was home in the 1890s to Aransas County Judge W. H. Baldwin, a booster of Rockport as a deep-water port. From 1917 to 1942 it sheltered George A. Brundrett, Jr., a Confederate veteran and cattle rancher whose spread covered 15,000 acres on Matagorda Island; his wife Flavilla is remembered for turning the parlor into a makeshift hospital, and some 200 people are said to have taken refuge here during the deadly 1919 hurricane. With its front-facing gable, lacy corner brackets, and original windows and doors, the house shows the Queen Anne style adapted to the Gulf coast.
Smith-Brundrett House
Rockport, TX
Built in 1903 in Old Rockport beneath giant oaks, this early frame bungalow blends Cottage and Craftsman styling. It passed in 1920 to W. H. Smith, a grandson of Refugio pioneers, and in 1934 to rancher John Frederick Brundrett, whose family worked thousands of acres on Matagorda Island and Port Bay. The devout Brundretts kept the home for 53 years, until Fred died in 1987 at ninety-nine.
Aransas County
Rockport, TX
Aransas County was created from Refugio County on September 18, 1871, and organized the same year with the coastal town of Rockport as its seat. Its name descends from the Spanish river name Nuestra Señora de Aranzazú, a reminder of the region's colonial Spanish heritage along the Texas Gulf coast.
First Presbyterian Church of Rockport
Rockport, TX
Tracing its roots to 1869, this Gulf Coast congregation was deactivated in 1879 but reorganized with twenty charter members in 1889, worshiping in borrowed facilities until completing its own building around 1906–07. After surviving repeated hurricanes, the church relocated to this site in 1949, having counted many of Rockport's community leaders among its members.