Smith Point Community Church
Smith Point, Chambers County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Officially organized in 1948, Smith Point Baptist Church held services once a month in the 1937 Smith Point School and community center led by traveling Baptist ministers. The school building was later sold to the church and moved to this site in 1960. Restrooms and Sunday School classrooms were added to the old school house to accommodate a growing congregation. In 1956, the church reorganized and hired its first full-time pastor, Brother C.L. Smith. In 1961, church members helped build a parsonage from Hurricane Carla wreckage. In 2007, the church was renamed Smith Point Community Church to better reflect their mission to assist the Smith Point community. (2016)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On the isolated Gulf peninsula of Smith Point, worship began in the 1937 schoolhouse-and-community center, where traveling Baptist ministers preached once a month. Officially organized in 1948 as Smith Point Baptist Church, the congregation bought that school building and moved it to this site in 1960, adding classrooms as it grew and calling its first full-time pastor. In 1961 members even built a parsonage from the wreckage of Hurricane Carla, and in 2007 renamed the church to reflect its mission to the wider community.
Why it matters
The church shows how remote coastal communities in postwar Texas built their institutions from what was at hand—a repurposed schoolhouse and storm-salvaged lumber.
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Related people
- · C. L. Smith
Related events
- · Hurricane Carla
Themes & tags
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