DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll pass it along just as straight. The First Baptist Church of Rockport has been a fixture of Aransas County since 1873 — and if you think starting a church on the Texas Gulf Coast is easy work, well, the story ahead might adjust your thinking. When the congregation organized that year, they set up on S.
Church Street, and L. D. Young stepped in as the first pastor.
A beginning like any other, you might say. Steady. Faithful.
Building something meant to last. And for a good long while, it did. Then came 1919.
Now, if you know anything about hurricanes on the Texas coast, you know they don't negotiate, and they don't spare the devout. The hurricane of 1919 destroyed that first church building. Gone.
But here's the thing about a congregation that's been showing up together for nearly half a century — they showed back up again. The following year, the members built a new structure, this time at the corner of Live Oak and Main Streets. A new corner, a new building, same people.
Same purpose. And somewhere in all of that perseverance, something else grew. The First Baptist congregation reached across the denominational lines and joined with Rockport's Methodist and Episcopal congregations to form an ecumenical Sunday School together.
Three different traditions, one shared table. Throughout its history, the First Baptist Church of Rockport has kept on — worship, education, outreach — serving the community in ways that outlasted even the storm that tried to stop it.
What the marker says
Organized in 1873, the First Baptist Church of Rockport originally was located on S. Church Street. L. D. Young served as the first pastor. The hurricane of 1919 destroyed the first church building, but the members built a new structure at the corner of Live Oak and Main Streets the following year. They joined with Rockport's Methodist and Episcopal congregations to form an ecumenical Sunday School. Throughout its history, the First Baptist Church of Rockport has served the community with a variety of worship, educational, and outreach programs. (1991)