First Baptist Church of Rockwall
Rockwall, Rockwall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1852 by Elder John R. Briscoe and Elder M. Glover in the home of J. C. Williams, this was originally called New Hope Baptist Church, as Rockwall was not founded until 1854. Charter members: Hester, Isaac, James, Mildred, and Persila Briscoe; Felitha, Martha and Rosana Jones; Hannah Thompson; J. C. and Nancy Williams. First regular pastor was the Rev. H. E. Calahan. After years in homes, schoolhouses, and a Masonic hall, the congregation occupied a building of its own in 1876; present sanctuary, 1970. This is the oldest congregation in the Dallas Baptist Association. (1976)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1852 in the home of J. C. Williams by Elders John R. Briscoe and M. Glover, this congregation began as New Hope Baptist Church—Rockwall itself would not be founded until 1854. Its small band of charter members, drawn largely from the Briscoe, Jones, and Williams families, worshipped in homes, schoolhouses, and a Masonic hall before raising their own building in 1876. It is counted the oldest congregation in the Dallas Baptist Association.
Why it matters
A church older than the town it serves shows how faith congregations often came first on the Texas frontier, gathering settlers before there was a community to name.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John R. Briscoe
- · M. Glover
- · J. C. Williams
- · H. E. Calahan
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
East Trinity Lodge No. 157, A.F. & A.M.
Rockwall, TX
Chartered in the mid-1850s when Rockwall still lay within Kaufman County, East Trinity Lodge No. 157 gathered some of the district's earliest land-grant settlers, with James Wilson named its first master. Founding officers John O. Heath and S. R. Barnes had received their grants in 1848, among the first residents of the area. In 1968 the nearby E. C. Heath lodge merged into East Trinity.
Rockwall County
Rockwall, TX
Carved from Kaufman County and organized in March 1873, Rockwall County took its name from one of Texas's strangest natural curiosities—an underground formation of rock that surfaces in places like a buried masonry wall. Early settlers puzzled over whether it was natural or the work of some ancient hand, and the mystery gave both the county and its seat their enduring name. It remains the smallest county in Texas by area.
Rockwall County
Rockwall, TX
First settled in the 1840s, this region remained part of Kaufman County until Rockwall County was created in 1873. At just 147 square miles, it is the smallest of Texas' 254 counties, and both county and town take their name from a curious underground rock formation discovered in the early 1850s. Crossed by the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad, it long thrived as fertile farmland.
First United Methodist Church of Rockwall
Rockwall, TX
This Methodist congregation grew out of worship services held by area pioneers in the home of Mrs. Hugh Shaw and was formally organized in 1856, years before Rockwall County itself was created. Meeting first in the Masonic lodge, the small fellowship built its first steepled frame sanctuary in 1874 and gained its first full-time pastor by 1887 as the settlement matured.