Pine Ridge Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Way back in the 1840s, not long after Texas joined the union, the first settlers came to put down roots in a place they'd call Pine Ridge. They were planting something that would outlast all of them.

Now, the man at the center of this story is the Rev. David M. Jordan, a Baptist minister who'd been ordained clear over in Alabama, back in 1852.

He first came to Hardin County in 1858, and right away he got to work, organizing the Providence Baptist Church near what is now the town of Kountze. That's the kind of man he was. He didn't wait around.

Then, probably in the late 1860s, Rev. Jordan moved his family out to Pine Ridge itself. And in 1874, he did it again.

He organized the Pine Ridge Baptist Church. Now, a church is only as real as the people who walk through the door, and the charter members of Pine Ridge Baptist were a tight-knit bunch. Mary, Susan T., George B., W.

J., and Sultana L. Jordan. Jessie and Missouri Jordan Daniels.

The Rev. J. W., known to everyone as Billy, and Miley Jordan Teel.

Mandy Shaw Cotton, Jane Teel, Thomas Laird, and Aletha Laird Herrington. Those names deserve to be said out loud. Rev.

Jordan didn't just organize the church. He donated the land for it, and for a cemetery beside it. In those early years, when it came time for baptisms, the congregation made their way to Little Pine Island Bayou.

You can picture it. When Rev. D.

M. Jordan died in 1906, the mantle passed to his son-in-law, the Rev. J.

W. Teel, who became the church's second pastor. Over the years, many able pastors served the congregation, and several ministers were licensed to preach right out of its own membership.

Seeds planted by the founders kept producing. Pine Ridge Baptist Church, rooted in that 1840s settlement and shaped by the vision of a minister ordained in Alabama, continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of the people who started it all. Some things, it turns out, are built to last.

What the marker says

The founders of the Pine Ridge community came here to settle during the 1840s, soon after Texas was admitted to statehood. The Rev. David M. Jordan and his family moved to Pine Ridge probably during the late 1860s. A Baptist minister ordained in Alabama in 1852, Jordan had first come to Hardin County in 1858 and organized the Providence Baptist Church near the present town of Kountze. Rev. Jordan organized the Pine Ridge Baptist Church in 1874. Joining him as charter members were Mary, Susan T., George B., W. J., and Sultana L. Jordan; Jessie and Missouri Jordan Daniels; The Rev. J. W. "Billy" and Miley Jordan Teel; Mandy Shaw Cotton, Jane Teel, Thomas Laird, and Aletha Laird Herrington. Rev. Jordan donated land for a church and cemetery. During the early years, baptisms were held in Little Pine Island Bayou. Upon the death of the Rev. D. M. Jordan in 1906, his son-in-law, the Rev. J. W. Teel, became the church's second pastor. Over the years, the congregation has been served by many able pastors, and several ministers have been licensed to preach from the church's membership. With a history of service and leadership to the community, Pine Ridge Baptist Church continues to uphold the ideals and traditions of its founders.