First Presbyterian Church of Bay City
Bay City, Matagorda County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Within a year of becoming one of Bay City's original settlers in 1894, Alexander D. Hensley organized an interdenominational Sabbath school with the help of Gilford M. Magill. Early religious services were held in the county courthouse and in a community center. In 1898 Hensley, Magill, and others drafted and signed a Presbyterian Church covenant to formally organize this congregation. First Presbyterian was enrolled as a member of the Brazos Presbytery later that year. Hensley is also credited with the organization of the Mexican-American Presbyterian Church in Bay City. Actively interested in that congregation, he taught Sunday School classes in Spanish there for many years. Pastors assigned to First Presbyterian Church by the Brazos Presbytery held few services in Bay City, and in 1903 the relationship was dissolved. The congregation built its first church building nearby in 1903 with the Rev. George Wallace Story serving as pastor. The frame sanctuary served the congregation until 1936 when a new brick sanctuary was constructed at this site. Church facilities have expanded over the years to meet the demands of a growing congregation. First Presbyterian continues to provide religious guidance for members of the community. (1994)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Bay City was barely a year old when settler Alexander D. Hensley organized an interdenominational Sabbath school in 1895, worshipping in the county courthouse until a Presbyterian covenant formally created this congregation in 1898. Hensley also helped found a Mexican-American Presbyterian church in town, teaching Sunday school in Spanish for years. The congregation raised its first frame sanctuary in 1903 and replaced it with a brick building at this site in 1936.
Why it matters
The church traces how faith communities took root alongside the founding of a Texas Gulf-coast town, knitting together its Anglo and Mexican-American residents in a growing frontier settlement.
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Related people
- · Alexander D. Hensley
- · Gilford M. Magill
- · Rev. George Wallace Story
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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