HistoricSiteMarkers
Early Republic

Providence Baptist Church

Chappell Hill, Washington County, Texas

Marker Inscription

Founded May, 1842. Original site 2 1/2 mi. NW of Chappell Hill. Arm of church opened here in 1853. First building destroyed by storm. All of the congregation moved here in 1866. Present church erected in 1873.

Erected by Texas Historical Commission

The Story

Providence Baptist Church was founded in May 1842, in the days of the Republic of Texas, at a site a few miles northwest of Chappell Hill. An arm of the congregation opened here in 1853, and after the first building was destroyed by a storm the whole congregation relocated to this spot in 1866. The present church was erected in 1873.

Why it matters

Its founding in 1842 makes it a witness to the earliest years of Anglo settlement in Texas, when frontier congregations helped anchor new communities.

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