First Presbyterian Church

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Way back on November 3, 1849, two men rode into Anderson County with a mission. Their names were Reverend Daniel Baker and Reverend John May Becton, home missionaries, and the marker calls them great pioneer leaders.

That's not flattery. That's the record. Those two men sat down with eighteen charter members and organized what would become the First Presbyterian Church.

Eighteen people. That was the seed. Now, the building you'd recognize today, that Gothic structure of handmade brick, that didn't come until 1888.

Handmade brick. Someone mixed that clay, shaped those bricks, and stacked them into something meant to last. And last it did.

The congregation added not one but two enlargements after that, building on what Baker and Becton and those eighteen souls started. From a gathering in 1849 to a Gothic brick landmark that kept growing. Some stories end.

This one just kept addin' on.

What the marker says

Organized Nov. 3, 1849, with 18 charter members, by the great pioneer leaders, Revs. Daniel Baker and John May Becton, home missionaries. This Gothic building of handmade brick was erected in 1888; enlarged since by two additions. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966