Saint John Missionary Baptist Church
Euless, Tarrant County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In 1874 a small group of former slaves met at the the home of Frank Young and organized this congregation, which originally was named Oak Grove Baptist Church. During the late 19th-century pastorate of the Rev. Jim Carroll, the name was changed to St. John, and a two-story church and Masonic lodge building was constructed near this site on land donated by Tennessee Blackburn. The congregation built its own sanctuary here in 1911. Throughout its history, St. John Missionary Baptist Church has been a source of service and leadership for the Mosier Valley Community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1874, less than a decade after emancipation, a small group of formerly enslaved people gathered in Frank Young's home to found what was first called Oak Grove Baptist Church. Renamed St. John under the Rev. Jim Carroll, the congregation built a two-story church and Masonic lodge on land donated by Tennessee Blackburn before raising its own sanctuary in 1911. For generations it has been a cornerstone of the freedmen's settlement of Mosier Valley.
Why it matters
Black churches like St. John were the organizing heart of Reconstruction-era freedmen's communities, providing worship, education, and leadership when few other institutions welcomed African Americans.
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Related people
- · Frank Young
- · Rev. Jim Carroll
- · Tennessee Blackburn
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Mosier Valley School
Euless, TX
In 1870 the formerly enslaved couple Robert and Dilsie Johnson received forty acres here as a wedding gift, and around them grew Mosier Valley, one of Texas's oldest freedmen's communities. The residents organized a school in 1883, built a schoolhouse about 1924, and replaced it with a brick building in 1953; its students were integrated in 1969. The site honors the freed people who built a lasting community from the ground up.
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