First Baptist Church
Canyon, Randall County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized Dec. 21, 1890, with seven charter members: Mr. and Mrs. L. G. Conner, a Mr. and Mrs. Ingram, Mr. and Mrs. L. J. Pirtle, Mrs. F. M. Pope. First pastor was The Rev. Whatley. Congregation built Canyon's first church edifice, 1899. Present structure, begun in 1929, was finished after national Depression of the 1930s. First Baptist Church organized and built Latin-American mission; initiated Bible Chair at West Texas State University; erected activity building, High Plains Assembly Grounds. Many W.T.S.U. faculty members have been active leaders in this church. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Seven charter members organized First Baptist Church in the raw Panhandle town of Canyon in December 1890, when the surrounding plains were only beginning to be settled. The congregation built Canyon's first church building in 1899 and began its present structure in 1929, finishing it despite the Great Depression. Deeply tied to West Texas State University, the church started a Latin-American mission, a campus Bible Chair, and assembly grounds on the High Plains.
Why it matters
The congregation's story mirrors the settling of the Texas Panhandle itself, showing how churches and a young state college grew up together to anchor community life on the High Plains.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
City of Canyon
Canyon, TX
Surveyed on Christmas Day 1887 by L. G. Conner and named for nearby Palo Duro Canyon, Canyon rose against the Panhandle's snow, sandstorms, and grasshopper plagues. Early settlers strung the first telephone line on barbed-wire fence posts, and the arrival of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1898 made the town a cattle-shipping powerhouse that claimed some of the largest shipments in the world. In 1910 West Texas State University opened here, and town and school have grown side by side ever since.
J. Evetts Haley
Canyon, TX
Raised on West Texas ranches and rodeo arenas, J. Evetts Haley turned a UT history degree into a lifelong mission to preserve the story of the cattle country. As the first field secretary of the Panhandle-Plains Historical Society from 1925, he interviewed old trail drivers and collected the documents and artifacts that stock museums across the region, and he wrote acclaimed books on Charles Goodnight and the XIT Ranch. An outspoken public figure, he helped found the body that became the Texas Historical Commission.
L. T. Lester Home
Canyon, TX
Buffalo hunter turned cattleman L. T. Lester settled the high plains near Canyon in 1889 and opened its first bank in 1900. In 1904 he built this comfortable home—its fireplace mantels and marble lavatories hauled from Kansas City—which became a hub of political, social, and church gatherings. Active in civic life, Lester helped bring what became West Texas State University to Canyon in 1910.
Palo Duro Baptist Church
Dawn, TX
Palo Duro Baptist Church grew from Union School, built by Deaf Smith County settlers around 1893 as a place for community worship and learning. After a 1901 revival, twelve charter members organized the congregation, and in 1906 pioneers John and Janette Womble's land gift and community donations produced its first building. Over the decades the church became known for outreach — a Spanish mission for Bracero farm workers, support for children's homes, scholarships, and prison ministry.