Gilgal Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. In 1865, out in Upshur County, the Rev. John Baptist led the founding of a congregation.

Now that right there is a name that sounds like destiny, but we'll let the facts do the talking. The members gathered and built a brush arbor, simple and open to the sky, and they reached back into scripture for a name. They chose Gilgal, after the site of the Israelites' first encampment in the Promised Land.

A name carrying that kind of weight tells you something about what these people believed they were doing. A man named Tom Littlepage gave two acres for the church grounds and for a Black school. Later, three more acres were purchased from Judge J.

R. Warren. The roots were going deep.

The first frame church building went up right here in 1872, during the ministry of the Rev. J. H.

Hill. That was a building you could point to, something solid. Then came the Rev.

W. L. Dickson, and after serving this fellowship, he went and did something remarkable.

In 1900, he founded an orphanage, fulfilling what the marker calls his lifelong dream. The Dickson Colored Orphans Home, near Gilmer, operated for years before the state government took charge and moved the facility to Austin. A dream born here, tended here, and then carried elsewhere.

But Gilgal kept on. Of all the pastors who served this congregation, the Rev. S.

H. Howard served longer and baptized more members than any other. Around 1905, during his ministry, the structure that stands here was completed.

Then an evangelist, the Rev. H. W.

Gray, saw to it that the building was veneered with brick, giving it the look of permanence. The Rev. Floyd D.

Harris, the first full-time minister, led in the building of an educational annex. And during the pastorate of the Rev. U.

L. Sanders, a parsonage was constructed. From a brush arbor in 1865 to brick walls, a school, a parsonage, an orphanage that outlived the county.

Gilgal Baptist Church did not just survive. It built things.

What the marker says

In 1865 the Rev. John Baptist led the founding of this congregation. The members built a brush arbor here and chose the name "Gilgal" after the site of the Israelites' first encampment in the Promised Land. Tom Littlepage gave two acres for the church grounds and for a Black school. Later, three acres were purchased from Judge J. R. Warren. The first frame church building was erected here in 1872 during the ministry of the Rev. J. H. Hill. In 1900, after serving this fellowship, the Rev. W. L. Dickson founded an orphanage, fulfilling his lifelong dream. The Dickson Colored Orphans Home, near Gilmer, operated for years before the state government took charge and moved the facility to Austin. The Rev. S. H. Howard served longer and baptized more members than any other pastor of this congregation. About 1905, during Rev. Howard's ministry, this structure was completed. The building was veneered with brick during the pastorate of an evangelist, the Rev. H. W. Gray. The first full-time minister, the Rev. Floyd D. Harris, led in the building of the educational annex. A parsonage was constructed during the pastorate of the Rev. U. L. Sanders. (1979)