First Baptist Church of Beaumont

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Beaumont. Now pull up a chair, because this church's story has got more layers than a good brisket, and it starts the way a lot of good Texas stories do: with two preachers and a plot of ground. The year was 1872.

The Reverend J.W.D. Creath and the Reverend J.H. Fant organized this church right here in Beaumont.

Five years on, in 1877, something a little unusual happened. The Baptists and the Methodists, two congregations who don't always see eye to eye on the finer points of theology, joined forces to put up a frame church building together at the corner of Main and Fannin streets. Now that alone is worth remarking on.

But here's the detail that really rings out. For the belfry of that new building, the Baptists donated a bell. Not just any bell.

This one had originally been used on one of Captain W.E. Rogers' Neches River steamboats. So on Sunday mornings, the same bell that once called riverboat passengers to attention was now calling the faithful to worship.

That's a kind of second life you don't see every day. The fellowship kept growin'. The Reverend H.C.

Weymouth came on as the first resident pastor in 1882. Then in 1885, an evangelist named William E. Penn rolled through town for a 10-day revival, and when it was over, the membership had doubled.

Doubled. In ten days. Among those new members was a man named Pattillo Higgins.

You want to remember that name. He would go on to become one of the chief promoters of the Spindletop drilling. But in 1885, he was just a man who'd been moved by a revival, walkin' down the aisle to join a Baptist church in Beaumont.

By 1887, the congregation was ready to build something of their own. They constructed a red brick church at the corner of Pearl and Forsythe streets, on property donated by George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins, and Dr.

W.H. Smith. That same Pattillo Higgins, now a landowner and a donor, helping lay the foundation, literally, of the church that had taken him in.

Then came 1901. The Spindletop oil boom hit Beaumont like a thunderclap, and the city was never the same. Led by the Reverend J.A.

Smart, this church didn't just sit back and watch the chaos. It sponsored four missions in Beaumont and Gladys City. Four of them.

The red brick building was replaced in 1903 by a larger limestone structure. But even that became too small for a fellowship that just kept on growin'. So in 1924 and 1925, the present edifice was erected right here on this site, during the pastorate of the Reverend J.H.

Pace. Pace would go on to serve the longest term of any pastor this church has known: 1924 to 1938. He oversaw the building of the place and then kept the pews filled for years to come.

In recent years, the educational facilities have been enlarged as well. From two preachers and a borrowed steamboat bell, to limestone walls and missions across the county. That's not just a church growin'.

That's a community takin' root.

What the marker says

The Rev. J.W.D. Creath and the Rev. J.H. Fant organized this church in 1872. Baptist and Methodist congregations joined in 1877 to erect a frame church building at the corner of Main and Fannin streets. For the belfry, the Baptists donated a bell originally used on one of Captain W.E. Rogers' Neches River steamboats. The Rev. H.C. Weymouth became the fellowship's first resident pastor in 1882. Membership doubled after a 10-day revival led by evangelist William E. Penn in 1885. The new members included Pattillo Higgins, later one of the chief promoters of the Spindletop drilling. In 1887 the congregation constructed its own red brick church at the corner of Pearl and Forsythe streets on property donated by George W. Carroll, Pattillo Higgins, and Dr. W.H. Smith. After the Spindletop oil boom of 1901, this church, led by the Rev. J.A. Smart, sponsored 4 missions in Beaumont and Gladys City. In 1903 the brick church building was replaced by a larger limestone structure, but it soon became too small for the growing fellowship. The present edifice was erected on this site in 1924-1925, during the pastorate of the Rev. J.H. Pace, who served the longest term here, 1924-1938. In recent years, the church's educational facilities have been enlarged. (1976)