Old Baptist Church
Independence, Washington County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Organized in 1839. Here Sam Houston was converted and baptised in Rocky Creek in 1854. The present building was erected in 1872
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1839 during the days of the Republic of Texas, this Baptist congregation at Independence holds a notable place in the state's history. It was here in 1854 that Sam Houston — hero of San Jacinto and former president of the Republic — experienced a religious conversion and was baptized in nearby Rocky Creek. The present church building was raised in 1872.
Why it matters
The church ties together the founding-era faith communities of the Republic of Texas and the personal story of Sam Houston, one of the towering figures of early Texas and American frontier history.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
This congregation was organized in 1839, when Texas was an independent republic. Only three years earlier Texans had won their independence from Mexico. Under Mexican rule, Protestant worship had been officially restricted, so the Republic years brought a surge of new Protestant churches as Baptists, Methodists, and others organized openly.
Independence, in Washington County, became one of the most important Baptist centers in early Texas. The surrounding area was part of the region where Anglo-American settlement first took hold, and it was close to Washington-on-the-Brazos, where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed in 1836. In 1845, the Republic chartered Baylor University, which was located at Independence in its early decades, making the town a hub of Baptist education and leadership.
By the time of the event this marker is best known for, in 1854, Texas had joined the United States, and the national debate over slavery and union was growing more bitter by the year. The present church building dates from 1872, after the Civil War, when Texas was in the midst of Reconstruction.
People & events
The church's most famous moment involves Sam Houston, one of the towering figures of Texas history. Houston had commanded the Texan army to victory at San Jacinto in 1836, served as president of the Republic, and by 1854 was a United States senator from Texas. He had a reputation as a hard-living frontiersman, and for much of his life he held religion at arm's length.
His wife, Margaret Lea Houston, was a devoted Baptist, and the family lived for a time in Independence. Her faith is widely credited with influencing her husband. In 1854, Houston was converted and baptized in nearby Rocky Creek by immersion, in keeping with Baptist practice. Tradition holds that he was baptized by Rufus C. Burleson, then pastor of the church and president of Baylor. Many colorful anecdotes about the day have been passed down, and some are better treated as legend than history, but the baptism itself is well documented.
The congregation continued long after Houston's day. In 1872, members raised the building that stands here now.
Its place in the American story
Sam Houston's baptism is more than a personal story. Houston was a national figure whose career spanned the Tennessee frontier, the Texas Revolution, the Republic, and the United States Senate. His conversion at a small church in Independence connects this site to one of the best-known lives in nineteenth-century America.
The church also represents the religious movement that shaped the frontier South and West. Baptist congregations spread quickly across Texas because they needed no bishop's approval and could be founded by local believers. At Independence, church life and education grew together, and early Baylor University helped make Texas Baptists a major force in the state's public life.
The story is also a reminder that faith and politics were closely linked in Houston's time. Churches of that era were places where Americans debated moral questions, including the bitter issues that would soon divide the nation.
If you visit
Independence is a small place with a big past, and this church is one of its landmarks. The building you see dates from 1872, so it was not the building Houston knew in 1854. It does stand for the congregation that witnessed one of the most talked-about moments in his life.
As you look around, imagine the crowds that might have gathered at Rocky Creek to watch the famous general wade into the water. The quiet rural setting today makes it easier to picture the town when it was a center of Baptist life and learning in early Texas.
Independence fits well on a road trip through the region where Texas history began. Nearby sites connected to early Baylor and the Houston family, along with Washington-on-the-Brazos, let you trace the Republic of Texas era in a single day. Be respectful of the church grounds, especially if services or events are going on.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Sam Houston
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Independence
Independence, TX
Founded in the 1830s and briefly renamed to celebrate the Texas Declaration of Independence, Independence grew into the wealthiest town in Texas by 1845, when it won the newly chartered Baylor University. Sam Houston was baptized in nearby Little Rocky Creek in 1854, and the town bustled with a hotel, stagecoach depot, and Masonic lodge. When its leaders refused right-of-way to the railroad, trade drifted elsewhere and Baylor departed in 1886, leaving a quiet rural community.
General Sam Houston
Independence, TX
On November 19, 1854, the hero of San Jacinto and first president of the Republic of Texas was baptized in the waters of Rocky Creek near Independence. The rite was performed by Rufus C. Burleson, a Baptist minister and president of Baylor University, then located in this Washington County town. The State of Texas marked the spot in 1936 during the state's Centennial celebrations.
Site of the Home of General Sam Houston and Family
Independence, TX
On this Independence, Texas, lot once stood a house built in 1837 that later became home to Sam Houston and his family, who first occupied it in 1854. Houston — hero of San Jacinto, president of the Republic of Texas, and later U.S. senator and governor — spent time here in the town where his wife Margaret's family had deep roots. The original dwelling was torn down and rebuilt at the end of the 19th century.
John Prince Coles
Independence, TX
John Prince Coles, a North Carolinian, joined Stephen F. Austin's "Old Three Hundred" and reached present Washington County on New Year's Day 1822, receiving a Mexican land grant in 1824. He founded Coles Settlement—later renamed Independence—and was appointed alcalde of the Washington municipality in 1828. After serving in the Republic of Texas Army in 1836, he sat as a senator in the First Congress.