DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the First Baptist Church of Snyder, out there in Scurry County. Now, before Scurry County was even organized — before there was much of anything out on that west Texas prairie — somebody had the nerve to found a church. May of 1883.
One full year before the county itself got off the ground. That takes either deep faith or a stubborn streak, and out here on the Texas plains, those two things have always run together. They called it the Bledsoe Baptist Church, in honor of a man named John S.
Bledsoe, one of the founders. The first pastor, Reverend J. G.
Garrard, took up that calling and held it for seven years — 1883 all the way to 1890. And in those early days, the congregation didn't have a building to call their own. They held worship in the school building, on alternate Sundays.
You'd share what you had, and you'd be grateful for it. Then came December 8, 1892 — the members voted to change the name. Bledsoe Baptist Church became the First Baptist Church of Snyder.
Same year, they purchased Lot 4 of Block 14 in the original Snyder townsite. That piece of ground has held four consecutive church buildings since. Four.
And it hasn't moved an inch. The first structure went up on that lot — a one-story frame building, forty by sixty feet, with a bell tower. Picture that out on the open prairie, that tower cutting the skyline.
It served its time. Then in 1914, it was replaced with a large frame tabernacle. Now this tabernacle had a feature worth noting: sliding windows that opened to admit cool breezes.
West Texas summers being what they are, that was not a small consideration. You can almost hear those windows sliding open of a Sunday morning. The tabernacle gave way in 1922 to something altogether more substantial — a two-story, yellow brick building.
They bought additional property on the west side, built a pastor's home on it. The congregation was putting down roots, layer by layer, brick by brick. Then 1951.
The fourth sanctuary rose on the former site of that pastor's house — the house itself moved to another location by then. And by the time this marker was recorded in 1969, the building complex included the 1922 church, remodeled, standing alongside a 1958 education plant. Founded before the county.
Outlasted four buildings on the same lot. Started in a schoolhouse on alternate Sundays and grew into a city block. That's not just a church — that's a west Texas institution that refused to wait for the world to catch up to it.
What the marker says
Founded in May, 1883, one year before Scurry County was organized, this pioneer institution helped pave the way for modern Baptist worship in the area. It was originally named Bledsoe Baptist Church, in honor of John S. Bledsoe, one of the founders. First pastor, The Rev. J. G. Garrard, served 1883-1890. Worship was then held in the school building on alternate Sundays. On December 8, 1892, members of the congregation voted to change their name to The First Baptist Church of Snyder. Lot 4 of Block 14 in the original Snyder townsite was purchased in 1892 and has since remained the site of four consecutive church buildings. The first structure was a one-story frame 40 x 60 foot building with a bell tower. In 1914 it was replaced with a large frame tabernacle. This structure had sliding windows which opened to admit cool breezes. In 1922 the tabernacle was replaced with a two-story, yellow brick building. Additional property on the west side was bought and a pastor's home built. The fourth sanctuary was built in 1951 on the former site of the pastor's house (now another location). Present building complex includes the 1922 church (remodeled) and 1958 education plant. (1969)