DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna pass it on to you. Back in 1895, the Reverend J. Francis Robinson and a group of members from both Mt.
Gilead Baptist Church and St. James Baptist Church came together and founded something new — a congregation that would one day stand in red brick and stained glass on the Tarrant County landscape. Now, when they were just gettin' started, they weren't meeting in any grand sanctuary.
They were gathering in the local Y.M.C.A. building. That's where the church first met. Humble beginnings, but beginnings all the same.
Then came 1913, and the work of building something permanent got underway. Construction started on the building that still stands today — but the roof wasn't the first thing these folks worshipped under. They held services down in the basement while the rest of the structure rose around them, year after year, until the sanctuary was finally completed in 1918.
Five years of Sunday mornings underground, if you can picture it, waiting on the room above to be ready. And when it was done, what they had was something worth the wait. A red brick building, Gothic Revival in style, with shallow brick reliefs and patterns worked into the walls, cast stone detailing, and art glass windows catching the light just so.
It's simply detailed, the marker says — but there's a quiet dignity in that simplicity that has kept this place standing and recognized. Greater Saint James Baptist Church. Founded 1895.
Still here.
What the marker says
Founded in 1895 by the Rev. J. Francis Robinson and members of Mt. Gilead Baptist Church, St. James Baptist Church, first met in the local Y.M.C.A. building. Construction of this building began in 1913, and services were held in the basement until the sanctuary was completed in 1918. The red brick building, featuring elements of the Gothic Revival style, is simply detailed with shallow brick reliefs and patters, cast stone, and art glass windows. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986