Montgomery Baptist Church Building
Montgomery, Montgomery County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Baptist in Montgomery organized a fellowship in 1850 and purchased land at this site the same year. In 1853, the Rev. thomas Chilton became the church's first full-time pastor. This vernacular Gothic revival sanctuary was constructed in 1902, during the pastorate of O. P. Stark, who is said to have designed the building himself. A 1918 storm destroyed the upper part of the steeple, and an education wing was added in the 1940s. The congregation met here for worship until 1979. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1985
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Baptists in Montgomery organized a fellowship in 1850 and bought this site the same year, calling their first full-time pastor, the Rev. Thomas Chilton, in 1853. The present vernacular Gothic Revival sanctuary went up in 1902 under Pastor O. P. Stark, who is said to have designed the building himself. A 1918 storm toppled the upper steeple, an education wing followed in the 1940s, and the congregation worshiped here until 1979.
Why it matters
The church traces more than a century of continuous congregational life in one of Texas's oldest towns.
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Related people
- · Thomas Chilton
- · O. P. Stark
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
The Old Methodist Churchyard
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In January 1839 the Rev. Isaac Strickland organized a Methodist church here, and its members raised a log meetinghouse on land donated by the founders of Montgomery. The churchyard filled with graves through the 1840s, and one dying pastor asked to be buried beneath the altar of the frame church replacing the cabin. Among those laid to rest are a soldier of the American Revolution and veterans of the War of 1812, the Texas Revolution, the Mexican War, and the Civil War, alongside pioneers, officials, and travelers who died among strangers.
Lake Creek Settlement
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N. H. Davis Cottage
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Judge N. H. Davis built this cottage in 1851 using timber from an 1831 log house he had received as a legal fee, and the home grew with a kitchen wing in 1880 and a south addition in 1895. From 1881 to 1891 it also served the community as the site of Texanna Snow's school, and the house has remained in the Davis family ever since.
John M. Wade
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Born in New York City in 1815, John Marshall Wade came to Texas in 1835 on Sam Houston's advice and joined the Texas army, helping fire the famed "Twin Sisters" cannons at the Battle of San Jacinto in 1836. A printer by trade, he set type for Gail Borden's Telegraph and Texas Register, served the Republic's Senate, surveyed Montgomery County, joined the 1842 Somervell Expedition, and founded the Montgomery Patriot newspaper in 1845. He later served in the Confederate army and died in Austin in 1879.