New Hope Missionary Baptist Church
Tennessee Colony, Anderson County, Texas
Marker Inscription
This church was founded in 1873 by Reverend Nathan Oggs, a former slave and a pastor who organized four churches in the area. New Hope joined the Zion Hill District Baptist Association in 1887. The church, comprised of many former slaves, met at Rev. Oggs’ home for several years until they built a church on 2.5 acres in 1876. The African American church expanded quickly and constructed a larger church on property purchased by Oggs in 1884. The church moved in the 1890s near Catfish Creek and again in 1957 to its present location. Ancestral membership spans nine generations. The New Hope Missionary Baptist Church has faithfully served the spiritual needs of the community for over 140 years. (2013)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Founded in 1873 by the Reverend Nathan Oggs, himself a former slave, New Hope gathered a congregation of freedpeople who first worshiped in their pastor's home before raising their own building in 1876. Over the following decades the church grew, moved several times, and settled at its present site in 1957. Its membership traces ancestral roots back nine generations.
Why it matters
Black churches like New Hope were the first free institutions African Americans built for themselves after emancipation, anchoring worship, education, and community life across the Reconstruction South.
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Related people
- · Rev. Nathan Oggs
Themes & tags
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