First Baptist Church of Smiley
Smiley, Gonzales County, Texas
Marker Inscription
George W. Colley, who established a home, gin, and grist mill on Smiley Lake (1 mile S) in 1879, arranged for the Rev. John Stringer to hold the area's first formal Baptist meeting in 1880. People from throughout the area attended the 3-week brush arbor meeting during which 117 people were baptized in Smiley Lake. Smiley Lake Baptist Church, organized in 1882 with 34 charter members, erected a sanctuary and organized a Sunday School. A new sanctuary was built in 1893 on two acres donated by F. P. and M. L. Colley. The congregation was renamed Smiley Baptist Church in 1894. In 1906 several church members established Calvary Baptist Church in the new railroad town of Smiley. In 1915 Smiley Baptist Church moved to a site in Smiley donated by Maggie Glover. The Smiley and Calvary Churches reunited as the First Baptist Church in 1916. In 1921 the congregation withdrew from the San Antonio Baptist Association and joined 12 other churches to form the Gambrell Baptist Association. Church membership grew and in 1949 a new church building was erected. A parsonage was built in 1962. The church continues to build on a tradition of Sunday School programs, women's group programs, Baptist instruction, and support of home and foreign missions.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation began in 1880 with a three-week brush-arbor revival on Smiley Lake, where 117 people were baptized after settler George W. Colley arranged the area's first Baptist meeting. Organized formally in 1882, the church built sanctuaries, split and reunited as the railroad birthed a new town of Smiley, and moved to town in 1915. Through generations of Sunday schools, women's groups, and mission work, it became a mainstay of Gonzales County community life.
Why it matters
The brush-arbor revival and the frontier church it produced illustrate how faith communities organized and sustained rural Texas life through decades of settlement and change.
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Related people
- · George W. Colley
- · John Stringer
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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