First Baptist Church of Whitehouse

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends. Anglo settlement of this area began in the 1840s. Now, not long after that, a community started growin' up around a white painted schoolhouse, and folks were calling that place Whitehouse by the early 1850s.

That schoolhouse gave the community something to gather around, and where people gather, faith tends to follow. In September of 1869, two elders, J. A.

Kindle and W. G. Caperton, organized a congregation.

They called it New Hope Church of Christ, Baptist, and about twenty-five charter members signed on at the start. Twenty-five people, ready to build something that would last. In those early days, worship services were held just once a month.

Once a month, but they held on. By 1887, the congregation had grown enough to plant itself in the ground, literally. New Hope Baptist Church purchased a plot of land and the congregation built a one-room sanctuary, nestled right in a pine grove.

Picture that: a single room, pine trees all around, and a community that had been meetin' and prayin' together for nearly two decades. Now here's where the story picks up speed. The railroad had come through Whitehouse back in the 1870s, and a central business district began to grow up around that new townsite.

The church followed the people. It was relocated to the new townsite, a white frame building was erected in 1901, and the name was changed to Whitehouse Baptist Church. A new name, a new building, but the same congregation keepin' faith with what those twenty-five charter members started.

Then in 1923, the church moved again, this time to a site on East Main Street. And with that move came another new name: First Baptist Church. They were plantin' a flag, tellin' Smith County exactly who they were.

A new facility went up in 1959. Growth kept coming. And in 1980, the congregation built the present sanctuary.

From a pine grove and once-a-month services in 1869, to a sanctuary standing in 1980, the First Baptist Church of Whitehouse has been a part of Smith County history for more than a century. Some things, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

Anglo settlement of this area began in the 1840s. The community of Whitehouse, which grew up around a white painted schoolhouse, began in the early 1850s. A church congregation, called New Hope Church of Christ, Baptist, was organized in September 1869 by Elders J. A. Kindle and W. G. Caperton and about twenty-five charter members. Early worship services were held once a month. In 1887 a plot of land was purchased by New Hope Baptist Church and a one-room sanctuary, nestled in a pine grove, was built by the congregation. After the railroad came through Whitehouse in the 1870s and a central business district began to grow, the church was relocated to the new townsite. A white frame building was erected in 1901, and the name was changed to Whitehouse Baptist Church. In 1923 the church was relocated once again, to a site on East Main Street. At that time it was also renamed First Baptist Church. A new church facility was erected in 1959, and continued growth led to the construction of the present sanctuary in 1980. A part of Smith County history for more than a century, the First