First Baptist Church

Organized Sept. 1858 in local Masonic Hall by Baptist missionary John R. Briscoe and Elder W. M. Pickett with 19 charter members: Lewis W., Rebecca, Susan C., and Martha Matilda (Tillie) Moore; Nancy Moore Hines; Andrew and Mary McDonald; Ellen D. Langford; Mary Reneau; Margaret Moody; Julia Cole; John, D. H., Margaret, and Sarah Miller; Louise and J. C. Moses; Wiley A. and Sarah Mattox. Briscoe served temporarily as pastor. The first convert was Eliza Stevens, a slave. During the Civil War the congregation moved to Center Point (3 miles SE), and later returned to Greenville, meeting in the courthouse, shared by all faiths. First church building was a small frame house on a lot(1 block SE) donated by A. D. Robey and W. M. Arnold in 1873. The house burned in 1886, and a large frame structure was erected in 1887 on this block. In 1895, the church sponsored the establishment of Burleson College, a local private school, which was transferred to the State Baptist Convention in 1899. The cornerstone of a brick edifice, constructed on this site in 1905, is displayed here. Eight other local Baptist churches have spawned from this congregation. The present sanctuary was dedicated Dec. 10, 1967, and serves over 2,000 members.

First Baptist Church is a historical marker in Greenville, Hunt County, dedicated in 1973. It is one of 70 historical markers documented in Hunt County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 92 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 33.1395, -96.1090 near Greenville. The nearest cataloged historic site is Central Christian Church (historic place), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Greenville, Washington Hotel, and Central Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5231007789. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.