DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Matagorda County. Now, some churches have a smooth road to glory, and some have to fight for every inch of it. Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church — well, they fought.
It starts in November 1903, in a place called Tent City, a settlement in Markham that folks would come to know as Red Town. Nine charter members came together and organized a congregation. These weren't people of leisure, mind you.
They were working the canals, the cattle ranches, the rail lines, and the rice fields of that area. Hard labor, every day of it. And yet they found it in them to build something lasting.
Their first pastor was the Reverend Andrew Lee, coming to them from Bay City. By 1909 they had their first building — an actual structure to gather in, to worship in. And then the hurricane came.
That same year, 1909, the congregation's first building was destroyed. Now here is where the story gets to the heart of who these people were. They didn't wait.
They didn't deliberate. They rebuilt immediately. A new structure rose up in 1923 to replace that one.
And then in 1961, Hurricane Carla came through and destroyed that building too. Two hurricanes. Two buildings gone.
Most outfits would've read the weather and moved on. Not this congregation. In 1962, the members acquired the former Ashby Memorial Baptist Church building — moved it all the way from the Ashby community — and made it their own.
You want to know the measure of a congregation? It isn't in the building. Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church has proven that more than once.
The members carry on today in the traditions of their founders, with programs of worship and service. The storms came. They stayed.
What the marker says
The Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church traces its history to November 1903, when a number of residents of Markham's "Tent City" later known as "Red Town," organized a congregation. Nine charter members were among those who worked on the canal, cattle ranches, rail lines and in the rice fields in the area. The Reverend Andrew Lee of Bay City was their first pastor. The congregation's first building, erected in 1909. was destroyed in a hurricane the same year. Immediately rebuilt, it was replaced by a new structure in 1923; that one was destroyed by Hurricane Carla in 1961. The members acquired the former Ashby Memorial Baptist Church building and moved it from the Ashby community in 1962. Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church members continue in the traditions of their founders with programs of worship and service. (1999)