First Baptist Church of Mineola

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker says about the First Baptist Church of Mineola. Now settle in, because this story starts with two railroad lines crossing in the middle of East Texas, and it doesn't slow down for a good long while. The year is 1873.

The town of Mineola gets its start right at the intersection of the Texas and Pacific and the International and Great Northern railroad lines. Two iron roads cross, a town is born, and wherever a Texas town takes root, you can be sure a congregation isn't far behind. The Rev.

T. L. Scruggs didn't wait for a proper church building.

That same year, he started holding nondenominational worship services in a log schoolhouse. Just a man, a room full of folks, and something worth gathering for. Two years later, out of that same group of early worshipers, the First Baptist Church formally organized.

The man who led that formal organization was the Rev. W. D.

Powell, who also served as the congregation's first pastor. And when a frame sanctuary went up on this very site in 1877, they called it Powell's Chapel. Now, a frame building suited them fine, but congregations have a way of outgrowing their walls.

During the pastorate of the Rev. A. D.

Aldridge, who served from 1881 until 1920, plans for a new brick building began to take shape. Aldridge tended that vision for nearly the whole of his tenure, but it was the Rev. W.

M. Dailey, arriving as pastor in 1920, who saw the new building through to completion. The story doesn't stop there.

Growth has a momentum of its own. An education building was added in 1950 to accommodate expanded programs and ministries. Then came a new auditorium and education building, dedicated in 1957.

Log schoolhouse to frame chapel to brick sanctuary to a campus built for a community. That is more than a hundred years of the First Baptist Church woven into the religious and cultural heritage of Mineola, and by the time this marker was recorded in 2001, the congregation was still upholding the ideals of the founders who first gathered in that log schoolhouse back in 1873. Two railroad lines crossed, and something lasting took root right here.

What the marker says

This site has been home to the First Baptist Church of Mineola since the congregation's first frame building was constructed here in 1877. The church's history dates to the early years of Mineola's development, after the town was founded in 1873 at the intersection of the Texas & Pacific and the International & Great Northern railroad lines. The Rev. T. L. Scruggs began holding nondenominational worship services in a log schoolhouse that year, and two years later, the First Baptist Church formally organized out of a group of those early worshipers. The Rev. W. D. Powell led the formal organization of the Baptist church and served as first pastor. The frame sanctuary, built on this site in 1877, was known as Powell's Chapel. Plans for a new brick building began during the pastorate of the Rev. A. D. Aldridge, who served the congregation from 1881 until 1920. The new building was completed after the Rev. W. M. Dailey arrived as pastor in 1920. To accommodate the congregation's expanded programs and ministries, an education building was added in 1950. Continued growth led to the construction of a new auditorium and education building, dedicated in 1957. For more than 100 years, the First Baptist Church has been a part of the religious and cultural heritage of Mineola. It continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders as it provides significant service and leadership to the community. (2001)