DUANE
Duane's take
Here's the story as the official marker tells it — my job's just to do it justice. Now, every good congregation's got to start somewhere, and this one started with nineteen people and a schoolhouse. The year was 1865, and what would one day become the First Baptist Church of Richardson came into the world under a different name entirely — Mt.
Calvary Baptist Church. Those early worshippers gathered in the Elm Grove Schoolhouse, with the Reverend J. J.
Butler called as their first pastor. Nineteen charter members. That's it.
That's your foundation. But then, that's all you need if the foundation's solid. One of those charter members was a man named William Huffhines — an early Dallas County pioneer — and he did something that changed the congregation's story before it even really got going.
He donated two acres of land for a sanctuary. On that same land stood Mt. Calvary Cemetery, so the living and the departed were neighbors from the start.
By 1868, the congregation had built a frame sanctuary on that donated ground, and they worshipped there for seventeen years. Seventeen years is a long time to build roots. But in 1885, they voted to pull those roots up and move — five miles north, to a new town called Richardson.
Now a new town needs a new place to meet, and Philemon W. and Mary Huffhines gave land at the corner of Greenville Avenue and Phillips Street for exactly that purpose. A sanctuary was completed there in February of 1886. And for a while, things were good.
Then 1909 arrived, and a storm destroyed the building. Just like that — gone. But this congregation had already proven it knew how to rebuild, and sure enough, a new brick structure rose on that same site and was completed in 1910.
That brick building carried the congregation forward for decades, until it too was replaced in 1953. One year after that, in 1954, the congregation voted to change its name — officially, formally — to First Baptist Church of Richardson. The name caught up with where they'd been living for nearly seventy years.
The church kept on serving the community with outreach programs across the years, acquired this site in 1976, and dedicated a brand new sanctuary in February of 1987. Nineteen charter members in a schoolhouse in 1865. A sanctuary dedicated in 1987.
Some stories don't need embellishment — the distance they travel speaks for itself.
What the marker says
Founded in 1865 with nineteen charter members, this congregation began as Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. Early worship services were held in the Elm Grove Schoolhouse. The Rev. J. J. Butler was called as first pastor of the congregation. William Huffhines, a charter member of the church and an early Dallas County pioneer, donated two acres of land for a sanctuary. Also located on the land was Mt. Calvary Cemetery. A frame sanctuary was built in 1868 and the congregation continued to meet there until 1885, when they voted to move five miles north to the new town of Richardson. Philemon W. and Mary Huffhines gave land at the corner of Greenville Avenue and Phillips Street for a sanctuary, which was completed in February 1886. After it was destroyed in a storm in 1909, a new brick structure was completed on the same site in 1910. The brick building was replaced in 1953, and one year later the congregation voted to change its name to First Baptist Church of Richardson. Over the years, First Baptist Church has served the community with a varietyof outreach programs. This site was acquired in 1976, and a new sanctuary was dedicated in February 1987.