East Point Missionary Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just the same. Way out in Wood County, there's a piece of ground that's been holding a community together for a long, long time. It starts, as so many good Texas stories do, with a man and a piece of land.

Fellow named I. F. Taylor donated land out at East Point back in 1878, set aside for two of the most important things a settling community could want: a church and a school.

Now, that's a generous act, and the settlers didn't let it sit idle. They got to work. It took a few more years before everything fell into place, but in 1893, the East Point Missionary Baptist Church was officially established.

Twelve charter members signed on, and they didn't do it alone. The Little Hope Baptist Church, sitting just four miles to the southeast, lent a hand in getting things going. Twelve people and a neighbor congregation.

That's your foundation. For a while, those twelve members and whoever joined them held services wherever they could find shelter. A schoolhouse.

A brush arbor, which if you've never stood under one is exactly what it sounds like, branches and timber overhead and the sky peeking through. It's humble, and it's honest, and it did the job until 1909, when a proper sanctuary finally went up. The community kept building.

In 1928 a new church building was erected. All this time, East Point School was sharing the same location, which means generation after generation of children grew up with church and school practically under the same roof, right up until 1953 when the school finally parted ways with the site. The church, though, kept right on going.

A new sanctuary was built in 1956. A fellowship hall was added in 1979. And according to the marker, the church continues to serve the area.

From a donated patch of ground in 1878 to a fellowship hall added over a century later, East Point Missionary Baptist Church has been one of those quiet, steady things that holds a place together. Twelve charter members started it. The rest is just time, and commitment, and showing up.

What the marker says

East Point settlers took steps to establish a local church and school when I. F. Taylor donated land for those purposes in 1878. In 1893 East Point Missionary Baptist Church was established by 12 charter members with the help of the Little Hope Baptist Church (4 miles Southeast). Services were held in a schoolhouse and brush arbor until a sanctuary was built in 1909. A new church building was erected in 1928. East Point School shared this location until 1953. A new sanctuary was built in 1956 and a fellowship hall added in 1979. The church continues to serve the area. (1995)