Valley View Baptist Church
Nocona, Montague County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The Tri-County Baptist Association, comprised of churches in Montague, Clay, and Wise Counties, voted to establish a church near Spanish Fort in 1895. Red River Baptist Church was formally organized that year following a revival service held under a brush arbor at Red River station. Early worship services were held in the Rowland Schoolhouse (1 mile west) and in the March Schoolhouse (1 mile north). About 1919-1920, after the Valley View Schoolhouse was built, the Baptist congregation shared that facility with other local churches. In 1921, during the pastorate of The Rev. J.A. Russell, Mr. and Mrs. J.A. York donated land at this site for a church building. Brother Russell, who also served as Principal of Valley View School, lived in a teacherage on school property until 1927, when the church built a parsonage. He later resigned to become Pastor of the First Baptist Church in nearby Nocona. In late 1928 or early 1929 church members voted to change the name of the congregation to Valley View Baptist Church. The Valley View congregation has a long history of supporting outreach and missionary activities. Many of the congregation's former pastors later served in the foreign missionary field. (1995)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
A regional Baptist association voted in 1895 to plant a church near Spanish Fort, and Red River Baptist Church was organized that year after a brush-arbor revival at Red River Station. Early worship rotated through local schoolhouses, and by about 1919–1920 the congregation shared the new Valley View Schoolhouse; a pastor who doubled as the school's principal led it in the early 1920s. Renamed Valley View Baptist Church around 1929, it built a lasting record of supporting missionary work, sending many former pastors into the foreign mission field.
Why it matters
The church's schoolhouse beginnings show how faith and education intertwined in the settlement of the North Texas frontier along the Red River.
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Related people
- · J. A. Russell
Themes & tags
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