First Baptist Church of Galveston

Duane's take

The way I tell it, I'm drawing straight from the official marker for the First Baptist Church of Galveston — so let's let the record speak. Now, it's January 30, 1840, and the Reverend James Huckins — a visiting Baptist missionary agent, mind you, just passing through — gathers nine charter members inside the home of a man named Thomas Borden. Not a grand hall, not a proper church house.

Someone's living room. And right there, in that modest Galveston home, they organize a Baptist church. A few days later, Thomas Borden's brother, Gail Borden Jr., and his sister-in-law Penelope Borden walk down to the beach and get baptized.

The Gulf of Mexico standing in for the baptismal font. James Huckins, having set this whole thing in motion, becomes the new church's first pastor. Now here's the thing you have to understand about 1840 Galveston.

Texas had only recently shed the Mexican law requiring its immigrants to embrace Catholicism. Only recently. So when Protestant churches started organizin', a good many Galvestonians treated it as cause for celebration.

You can imagine the feeling — like a window thrown open after a long, close room. By 1847, the congregation had raised a log cabin sanctuary right on this very site. And the membership at that time, the marker is clear about this, included many slaves.

That fact sits there, heavy and true, and it shapes what comes next. In 1855, several white businessmen purchased a lot for the Black members to establish their own church. Avenue L.

Baptist Church was born. After the Civil War, the property was formally deeded over to Avenue L. Baptist Church — a congregation with roots running all the way back to that log cabin.

Meanwhile, Gail Borden Jr. had spent fourteen years as a deacon of First Baptist before he returned to his native New York. And here's where the story takes a turn nobody quite expects. While he was in Galveston, Borden had begun a series of experiments.

He kept at them after he left. In 1858, he obtained a patent — for condensed milk. Fourteen years of deacon work, and somewhere in there, the germ of something that would change how the world stored food.

Back on the site, the congregation built their second structure in 1883. Now this building was something to see — it featured seven steeples. Seven.

You'd have spotted it from the water long before you spotted the shore. Then came 1900. The storm.

The one Galveston never fully got past. The second church building was destroyed. And when it fell, it came down on the original log cabin sanctuary and crushed it.

Sixty years of history, gone in one terrible night. But a congregation that had survived that much didn't quit. They built again.

Heavy mortar walls this time. A dome. A structure meant to hold its ground.

It was dedicated in 1905, and it served for sixty years before being replaced by the fourth church structure. In 1990, the First Baptist Church of Galveston celebrated its sesquicentennial — a hundred and fifty years from that nine-person gathering in Thomas Borden's home. And by the end of the twentieth century, the complex had grown to cover an entire city block.

Nine people in a living room. One city block. That's the arc of it.

What the marker says

The Rev. James Huckins, a visiting Baptist missionary agent, met with nine charter members in the home of Thomas Borden to organize a Baptist church in Galveston on January 30, 1840. Borden's brother Gail Borden, Jr., and sister-in-law Penelope Borden were baptized a few days later at the beach. James Huckins became the new church's first pastor. Only recently freed from the Mexican law requiring Texas immigrants to embrace Catholicism, many Galvestonians regarded the formation of new Protestant churches as cause for celebration. A log cabin sanctuary was erected on this site in 1847. At that time, the membership included many slaves. In 1855, several white businessmen purchased a lot for the black members to establish their own church, and Avenue L. Baptist Church was born. The property was formally deeded to Avenue L. Baptist Church after the Civil War. After serving fourteen years as deacon of First Baptist Church, Gail Borden, Jr., returned to his native New York. As a result of experiments begun while he was in Galveston, Borden obtained a patent for condensed milk in 1858. The congregation's second building, erected in 1883, featured seven steeples. It was destroyed in the 1900 storm, and the original log cabin sanctuary was crushed by the falling church building. A replacement building was constructed with heavy mortar walls and a dome, and was dedicated in 1905. It served for sixty years before being replaced by the fourth church structure. The First Baptist Church of Galveston celebrated its sesquicentennial in 1990. By the end of the 20th century the complex had expanded to cover an entire city block. (1998)