New Cherry Grove Baptist Church
Buna, Jasper County, Texas
Marker Inscription
NEW CHERRY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH IN 1889, HICKORY GROVE SCHOOL AND CHURCH WAS RELOCATED FROM THE WEST BANK OF COW BAYOU TO A MORE ACCESSIBLE LOCATION THAT WAS NOT BLOCKED DURING PERIODIC FLOODING. THE CHURCH MAY HAVE EXISTED EARLIER, BUT WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION BEGINS WITH THE BUILDING’S 1889 RELOCATION. THE NEW BUILDING WAS NAMED CHERRY GROVE SCHOOL AND CHURCH BECAUSE OF THE FOLIAGE AT THE NEW SITE. THE CHERRY GROVE STRUCTURE WAS MOVED TO ANOTHER SITE A SHORT DISTANCE AWAY IN 1900. THE ARRIVAL OF THE ORANGE AND NORTHWESTERN RAILWAY AND THE SUBSEQUENT ESTABLISHMENT OF THE COMMUNITY OF GIST MADE IT LOGICAL FOR THE CHERRY GROVE SCHOOL AND CHURCH TO RELOCATE TO GIST IN 1909. WHEN THE TWO BAPTIST CHURCHES IN GIST DECIDED TO COMBINE CONGREGATIONS IN 1916, THE NEW CHURCH BECAME NEW CHERRY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH. THE STEADY GROWTH OF THE CONGREGATION REQUIRED A LARGER CHURCH FACILITY, AND THE OLD CHERRY GROVE BUILDING WAS AGAIN MOVED, TO A SITE AT THE CORNER OF STATE HIGHWAY 62 AND GIST ROAD (NOW COUNTY ROAD 826). THE FIRST SERMON WAS PREACHED AT THIS LOCATION IN JUNE 1923. CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO THE CHURCH PLAN THROUGH THE YEARS IN ORDER TO BETTER SERVE THE CONGREGATION. COMMUNITY OUTREACH HAS BEEN AN IMPORTANT PART OF NEW CHERRY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH’S ACTIVITIES SINCE THE CONGREGATION’S FOUNDING. THE CHURCH BUILDING HAS SERVED AS A JASPER COUNTY POLLING SITE SINCE AT LEAST 1889. THE CHURCH MAINTAINS A BENEVOLENT FUND TO ASSIST CHURCH AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS IN NEED AND ALSO SUPPORTS LOCAL CHARITIES AND FOREIGN MISSIONS. THROUGH SEVERAL CHANGES IN LOCATION AND NAME, NEW CHERRY GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH HAS FAITHFULLY SERVED THE RESIDENTS OF SOUTHEASTERN JASPER COUNTY. 175 YEARS OF TEXAS INDEPENDENCE * 1836-2011
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
This congregation traces its documented history to 1889, when the Hickory Grove school and church was moved off the flood-prone bank of Cow Bayou to higher ground and renamed for the cherry trees at its new site. Following the railroad and the growth of the community of Gist, the building relocated several more times, and in 1916 two Baptist congregations merged to form New Cherry Grove. Serving as a church, a school, and a Jasper County polling place, it has anchored southeastern county life for well over a century.
Why it matters
Its repeated moves in step with floods and railroads trace how rural Southeast Texas communities followed opportunity, while the church remained their steady civic and spiritual center.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
First United Methodist Church of Buna
Buna, TX
Five Buna citizens gathered in January 1904 to form a Methodist congregation, first worshiping in the town schoolhouse. In 1914 they began a white frame church on donated land, completing the two-story building in 1922 alongside a community hall shared with the local Masonic lodge. Over the following century the church added a parsonage and new facilities, founded women's and youth societies, and supported outreach including work with the Hispanic community of nearby Bessmay in the 1940s.
Black Education in Orange County
Orange, TX
African American education in Orange County began in the 1870s in private homes and churches, then took root in schoolhouses like Duncan Woods No. 3 and the Orange Colored School after the county organized its districts in 1887. Under a succession of dedicated teachers and principals, the city school grew into Moton Elementary and High School, renamed for Tuskegee's Robert Russa Moton and later for local educator Emma Henderson Wallace, and celebrated for its campus, sports, and band. The system served hundreds of students and kept building new facilities right up to integration in 1966.
First Christian Church of Orange
Orange, TX
The First Christian Church of Orange traces its roots to 1885, when a handful of residents began gathering for worship and some charter members were baptized in the waters of the Sabine River. The congregation formally organized under the Rev. J.C. Mason in 1894 and built its first sanctuary the next year. After decades of growth it relocated to its present site in 1954, remaining active in charitable and ecumenical work.
Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark
Orange, TX
Born in Orange in 1887 into the Lutcher lumber fortune, Henry Jacob Lutcher Stark joined the family empire after graduating from the University of Texas in 1910 and, though he lived modestly, was ranked Texas's wealthiest man by the 1920s. He diversified into banking, real estate, oil, and manufacturing while serving 24 years on the UT Board of Regents, twelve of them as chair. An avid collector of art and rare books, he founded a philanthropic foundation and gave generously to universities, the Stark Museum of Art, and local causes from sports teams to a boys' band.