New Hope First Baptist Church and Cemetery
Cedar Park, Williamson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Although Baptist worship services may have been conducted in this area as early as 1848, this church was not formally chartered until 1868. On October 22 of that year the organizational meeting was held in the home of James M. and Elizabeth Trammell, pioneers of the rural Block House community. Six charter members formed the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church of Christ, and the Rev. Thomas F. Bacon was chosen to serve as the first pastor. The church cemetery was first used in 1869 for the burial of Martha Elizabeth Inman, the wife of deacon S. C. Inman. Other marked gravesites include those of settlers who were prominent early leaders of the church and community. For over a century the New Hope First Baptist Church has been instrumental in the development of the Cedar Park area. From 1871 until 1919 the church building was also used for the public school. Pastors have included such leading Baptist ministers as missionary J. E. Hamilton, who died in Brazil of yellow fever, and the Rev. D. E. Simpson, board member and first treasurer of the Texas Baptist Children's Home, who was baptized and ordained here. (1983)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Though Baptist worship reached this rural Block House community as early as 1848, the church was formally organized in 1868 in the home of James and Elizabeth Trammell, with six charter members. Its cemetery opened the next year, and for nearly fifty years the church building doubled as the neighborhood's public school. Ministers raised here went on to serve as far away as Brazil and to help found the Texas Baptist Children's Home.
Why it matters
Frontier congregations like this one often served as school, meeting hall, and moral center all at once, knitting together the social fabric of rural America.
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Related people
- · James M. Trammell
- · Elizabeth Trammell
Themes & tags
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