DUANE
Duane's take
The official marker's got the story, and here's my telling of it — so let's go back a ways. April 21, 1855. Out in what would become Leon County, a group of pioneer settlers did something remarkable — they organized a church before the community around it even had a name.
Before Concord was Concord, there was the Concord Missionary Baptist Church. That's the kind of faith that builds a place, not the other way around. The first pastor was the Reverend W.
A. Walker, a man who shepherded this congregation from its very beginning. He's buried today in the Concord Cemetery, right there near the church he helped bring into being.
A man who stayed, you might say, even after everything. Now, a church needs land before it needs walls. Isaac Burleson was the one who donated that land for a building.
And in 1855 — same year the congregation was organized, no time wasted — a Greek Revival style building was erected. Clean lines, that classic form, standing out there on the Texas landscape. The deed for the church was recorded on June 7, 1856, making it official in the eyes of the law as well as the Lord.
The church stood. It held. In 1961 it was remodeled, carrying the congregation forward into a new era while that old soul of the place remained.
And then — Labor Day weekend, 2011. September 2nd. A wildfire came through on what should have been a holiday, and it destroyed the historic Concord Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary.
Just like that. One hundred and fifty-six years of history, of community, of those pioneer settlers' original vision — consumed. Some stories don't end clean.
Some of them just stop, and leave you standing in the silence, thinking about everything that was there before the fire came.
What the marker says
The historic Concord Missionary Baptist Church was organized on April 21, 1855 by pioneer settlers prior to the establishment of the community of Concord. The first pastor was the Reverend W. A. Walker who is buried in the Concord Cemetery near the church. Isaac Burleson donated the land for a building. In 1855, a Greek Revival style building was erected. The deed for the church was recorded on June 7, 1856. The church was remodeled in 1961. On September 2, 2011, a Labor Day weekend wildfire destroyed the historic Concord Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary. (1970, 2012)