Greater Bell Zion Missionary Baptist Church
Texas City, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the late 1860s and early 1870s, land near the center of Galveston county was bought by a group of African Americans who wished to establish a settlement. Most of the founders were black cowboys who earned their living riding the Chisholm Trail and raising cattle. Some of the founding families were the Britons, Philips, Hobgoods, Caldwells and Bells. A Baptist church was founded in 1885 and soon became the backbone of the African American community. It was organized by Rev. Israel S. Campbell (1815-1898) who was an escaped slave. Before coming to Texas he lived in Canada, attended Oberlin College and became a minister. He is known as the “Father of Black Texas Baptists” because of his missionary work to spread the Baptist faith. The church frequently changed its name depending on the pastor presiding over it. It was first known as Campbellsville Baptist Church, then Jefferson Chapel after the second pastor, then Bell’s chapel after the third. With the influence of the old landmark district association, the congregation renamed it but retained the Bell reference. They concluded with Greater Bell Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Throughout the decades since it was established, the church has been a provider for its community. It was not only a spiritual place, but a place where one could acquire an education. In 1874, the first school building was built in connection with the church. Katie Bell, the first school teacher, taught both children and adults to read and write. Backing Boy Scout troops and running a library are also impacts the church made. For more than a century, the church has been a focal point in the community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the years after the Civil War, a group of African Americans — many of them Black cowboys who worked the Chisholm Trail — bought land in central Galveston County to build a community. Their Baptist church, founded in 1885 by the Rev. Israel S. Campbell, an escaped slave known as the "Father of Black Texas Baptists," became the settlement's backbone. It changed names with its pastors over the years and, from an early school begun in 1874, long served as a place of both worship and learning.
Why it matters
The church preserves the little-told story of Black cowboys and freedpeople founding self-sustaining communities in Texas, where the church anchored faith, education, and civic life.
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Related people
- · Rev. Israel S. Campbell
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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