First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way up in Wichita Falls, there's a church with a story that starts small, real small, and grows into something that fills the whole skyline of a city. We're talking about the First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls, and the marker takes us all the way back to 1883.

That's where it begins. The Reverend H. M.

Burroughs is the man who gets things moving, directing the effort to pull this congregation together. And where do they gather for the first time? Not a grand sanctuary, not even a modest chapel.

A log schoolhouse. Eight charter members. Eight.

You could fit them all around a single campfire and still have room for the coffee pot. But here's the thing about eight people with a purpose, they have a way of becoming something much larger than eight. The First Baptist Church of Wichita Falls did exactly that, growing into what the marker calls a vital force in the development of Wichita Falls itself, and eventually a denominational leader.

That kind of growth doesn't happen quietly. The marker calls it dramatic, and it trusts you to feel the weight of that word. By 1919, the congregation had already outgrown two previous sanctuaries, and work began on a third.

This one was designed with classical elements, and two years after that first hammer fell, it was completed. A building built to match the ambition of what that church had become. Eight people in a log schoolhouse in 1883.

A classically designed sanctuary finished by 1921. That's not just a church growing. That's a whole city watching one of its own institutions grow right along with it.

What the marker says

Begun under the direction of the Rev. H. M. Burroughs in 1883, this church was organized in a log schoolhouse with eight charter members. Work on this sanctuary, the third for the congregation, was begun in 1919. Designed with classical elements, the building was completed two years later. The First Baptist Church has been a vital force in the development of Wichita Falls and has become a denominational leader through its dramatic growth. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1982