First Baptist Church of Chico

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and it's a story worth tellin'. Way out in Wise County, the First Baptist Church of Chico got its start the old-fashioned way: somebody opened their front door. The year was 1874, and it was B.

F. Booth's home that served as the birthplace of the whole congregation. Now, the man who pulled it together was a missionary by the name of Noah T.

Byars (born in 1808, gone in 1888), a man who clearly had places to be and souls to gather before his time was up. He had help, too, from the Reverend Sithemore, who didn't just lend a hand and ride off. Sithemore stayed on and became the church's first pastor.

Five members. That's where they started. Five people standin' in Booth's parlor, deciding they were going to build something that lasted.

Well. They had no idea. The congregation kept meetin' at Booth's place, and then over at the H.

P. Morris home, and eventually they acquired a site east of where the present church stands today. With land in hand and faith in abundance, they did what practical Texans do: they built a brush arbor.

Open-air worship for the summer months, and come winter, they moved into the schoolhouse. No stone walls, no stained glass, just a roof and a reason to show up. The first real frame church went up, and then, as congregations do, they outgrew it.

In 1908, a larger frame church replaced it. The work kept on. Sunday School rooms were added in 1936.

An educational building went up in 1959. And in 1962, the present sanctuary was completed. What started with five souls in a borrowed living room had grown, by the time this story was set down in stone, to more than four hundred members.

Five to four hundred. That's not just a congregation growin'. That's a whole corner of Texas puttin' down roots and refusin' to let go.

What the marker says

Organized in 1874 in home of B. F. Booth by Missionary Noah T. Byars (1808-88), assisted by the Reverend Sithemore, who became pastor. Congregation met at Booth's and in the H. P. Morris home until it acquired site east of present church and built a brush arbor for summertime use, worshiping in the schoolhouse in winter. The earliest frame church was replaced by a larger one in 1908; Sunday School rooms were added in 1936; the educational building was erected in 1959; the present sanctuary was completed in 1962. Original membership of five has increased to more than 400.