Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church

Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church, affectionately known as “The Rock,” and established in 1864, is the oldest African American church in Dallas County. The church was named for the mountain peak from which Moses viewed the promised land. Reverend Robert F. Butler, a White circuit preacher, and a few enslaved people gathered in June 1864 under an elm tree in the White Rock Settlement on Billie Wilburn’s Farm. The founders held church services despite their enslavement, including John Huffman, Dan Howard, Sam Fowler, William Phifer, Tobe Howard and Jack Saunders. After slavery was abolished, freedmen bought land, built homes and established churches and schools. Mount Pisgah’s membership grew and congregants traveled up to five miles to attend services. The congregation met under a brush arbor and by June 1888 voted to purchase land along the waters of White Rock Creek. The first building was a long, narrow frame structure. Picnics were held on the grounds and baptisms took place in various ponds, located near White Rock Union Graveyard, at present-day Coit at North Central Expressway, and at Sowell’s Farm at present-day Spring Valley at Montfort. As membership continued to grow, the church built a new structure on this site, which was completed in 1945 and constructed of rocks hauled by church members from Jacksboro. By the early 1980s, the congregation outgrew their location and purchased a church complex on Webb Chapel Road. Through partnerships with community and worldwide groups, Mount Pisgah has helped others by providing scholarships, services to homeless populations, school supplies, assistance to food banks and funding for a water well in Ghana. Located on South Sherman Street in Richardson, Mount Pisgah continues to grow while it supports and influences its community and lands abroad through its faith. (2019)

Mount Pisgah Missionary Baptist Church is a historical marker in Dallas, Dallas County, dedicated in 2019. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.9389, -96.8032 near Dallas. The nearest cataloged historic site is White Rock Cemetery (cemetery), about 0.5 miles away. Others within a short drive include White Rock Chapel, Mount Calvary Cemetery, and Mt Calvary.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5507022457. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.