Oakland Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way out in Grimes County, there's a little Baptist congregation with a story that starts in 1854 and winds its way, quietly and without any fanfare, all the way to the White House. This is Oakland Baptist Church, and you're gonna want to pay attention.

The church was organized in 1854, and the very first pastor to stand before that congregation was a man named George W. Baines. Now, the marker doesn't make a big fuss about it, just states it plain, the way Texans sometimes do with the most remarkable things.

George W. Baines was the great-grandfather of United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson. That middle name didn't land by accident, but I'll let you sit with that.

For years, the congregation didn't even have a proper building to call their own. They worshipped in a school room, Sunday after Sunday, making do, the way early Texas congregations did, until 1872, when the present church was finally built. Something solid to gather in at last.

Then, in 1913, the whole church was moved to the site where it stands today. Same congregation, same faith, new ground. That's the story the marker tells.

A church organized before the Civil War, a founding pastor whose bloodline would one day reach the highest office in the land, and a building that found its way here to Grimes County one more time before settling in for good.

What the marker says

Organized 1854. First pastor was George W. Baines, great grandfather of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson. Congregation worshipped in school room till 1872 when present church was built. Church was moved to this site in 1913. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, 1967