DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along to you straight. December 16, 1866 — seven people. That's all it took.
Seven charter members gathered together and organized the First Baptist Church of Pleasanton, and whatever they lacked in numbers, they made up for in determination, because this congregation was going nowhere. Now, they didn't have a building. Not yet.
So they did what resourceful folks do — they made do. The county courthouse opened its doors to them in 1867. A schoolhouse south of town took them in come 1870.
And starting in 1875, they were meeting in the Rock Schoolhouse. Seven people, no permanent home, moving from building to building — and still, the church held together. Then came a turning point.
In 1879, Mildred Mansfield and her son F. M. Mansfield donated land right here at this very site.
Mildred, born in 1816, and F. M., born in 1836 — they gave the congregation the ground it needed to put down roots. And the congregation built on it.
By 1883, their first sanctuary was completed. A real home at last. From there, the church grew its reach well beyond its own membership.
Foreign missionary endeavors, domestic missionary endeavors — this wasn't a congregation content to look only inward. As the years passed and the membership grew, more buildings went up to meet the need. New structures were completed in the 1950s and in the 1960s, right in the years leading up to the church's centennial celebration in 1966.
One hundred years from those seven charter members. That ought to have been the end of the hard times. It was not.
In February 1972, a fire destroyed much of the main church building. That's the kind of blow that ends some congregations. Not this one.
They rebuilt. And in October 1974, they dedicated the renovated structure. Then, in 1986, the Old Rock Schoolhouse — the very place those early members had once gathered for worship — became a part of the church plant itself.
The old meeting place folded back into the story it had helped begin. Seven people in 1866, and a church that's been refusing to quit ever since.
What the marker says
On December 16, 1866, seven charter members met together to organize the First Baptist Church of Pleasanton. They met for worship in a variety of places, including the county courthouse in 1867, a schoolhouse south of town in 1870, and the Rock Schoolhouse beginning in 1875. In 1879, Mildred Mansfield (1816-1892) and her son F. M. (1836-1902) donated land at this site, and the congregation's first sanctuary was completed in 1883. In addition to offering worship and educational programs to its own members, the church also was involved in both foreign and domestic missionary endeavors. As the congregation grew in size over the years, additional buildings were erected to meet membership needs. New structures were completed in the 1950s and 1960s prior to the church's centennial celebration in 1966. A fire destroyed much of the main church building in February 1972, but the congregation rebuilt and dedicated the renovated structure in October 1974. The Old Rock Schoolhouse, in which the early members had met for worship services, became a part of the church plant in 1986. (1991)