Hickory Grove Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker at Hickory Grove Baptist Church has to say. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories that starts quiet and just keeps growin'. Up in northern Rusk County, right where it nudges up against southern Gregg County, there sat a community called Cross Roads.

And Cross Roads, as the name might suggest, was a place where things came together. By 1911, the people living out that way recognized something: they needed a cemetery, and they needed a church. Simple as that.

Not a want. A need. There's a difference, and these folks knew it.

So they got to work. Come 1912, five acres of land were purchased right there on the west side of the pre-existing Hickory Grove Cemetery. They didn't wait long after that.

Construction of a church began before that same year was out, late 1912, and something was rising up out of that Cross Roads ground. Now, the church had a name in those early days, a full and formal one: the Missionary Baptist Church of Christ at Hickory Grove. That's a name that takes a breath to say.

In 1930, they trimmed it down to something that would stick, Hickory Grove Baptist Church. Then, in 1991, the building itself made a move, relocated right across Rusk County Road 284 to land donated by the Still family. And the following year, 1992, the original sanctuary was replaced with a new auditorium.

New ground, new building, same congregation, same purpose. For over a century now, Hickory Grove Baptist Church has been an active source of support for the community and those in need. Some things, it turns out, you build once and they outlast everything else.

What the marker says

Cross Roads Community, located in northern Rusk County and southern Gregg County, recognized a need for a cemetery and church in 1911. In 1912, five acres of land which adjoined the pre-existing Hickory Grove Cemetery on the west side were purchased. Construction of a church began in late 1912. In 1930, the name was changed from Missionary Baptist Church of Christ at Hickory Grove to Hickory Grove Baptist Church. In 1991, the building was relocated across Rusk County Road 284 to land donated by the Still family. The original sanctuary was replaced in 1992 with a new auditorium. For over a century, Hickory Grove Baptist Church has been an active source of support for the community and those in need.