Pine Springs Baptist Church

Duane's take

Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Pine Springs Baptist Church in Smith County. Now settle in, because this is one of those stories where a patch of East Texas land just keeps on growing. It starts in 1881, when two men, E.

S. Cook and Perry Ray, acting as trustees for the Pine Springs School community, went out and purchased nearby land so a schoolhouse could be built. Simple enough beginning.

But the story doesn't stop there, not by a long stretch. Not long after that purchase, the Pine Springs Baptist Church of Christ was organized, and the man guiding that effort was the Reverend Marcus Morton Wadsworth, born in 1841 and gone in 1908, who took on the role of first pastor. For a good while, the congregation gathered for monthly worship right there in the schoolhouse, sharing the same floor, the same walls, the same East Texas air.

Then, in the early 1890s, a separate sanctuary rose at this very site, just north of the school. Around that same time, the congregation quietly changed its name to the Pine Springs Baptist Church. And then came the Reverend Tully Choice.

During his pastorate, from 1894 to 1897, the fellowship experienced steady growth. The development of the area fruit growing and canning industry was drawing people to the region, and those new folks found their way to Pine Springs. A Sunday School took root.

Bimonthly services were established. The community was filling in, one family at a time. Regular weekly services began around 1935, and the congregation kept right on going.

Over more than a hundred years, the membership has included early settlers, soldiers stationed at nearby Camp Fannin during World War II, pioneers in the development of the area rose industry, and many prominent community leaders. A schoolhouse purchase in 1881, and look what grew from it.

What the marker says

In 1881, E. S. Cook and Perry Ray, trustees for the Pine Springs School community, purchased nearby land for the construction of a schoolhouse. Soon after, the Pine Springs Baptist Church of Christ was organized under the direction of the Rev. Marcus Morton Wadsworth (1841-1908), who served as the first pastor. Monthly worship services were conducted in the schoolhouse until a separate sanctuary was built at this site, north of the school, in the early 1890s. About the same time, the congregational name was changed to the Pine Springs Baptist Church. The fellowship experienced steady growth during the pastorate of the Rev. Tully Choice, 1894-1897. The development of the area fruit growing and canning industry brought new members, and a Sunday School and bimonthly services were established. Regular weekly services began about 1935. For over 100 years the Pine Springs Baptist Church has been active in the growth and development of the surrounding area. Members here have included early settlers, soldiers stationed at nearby Camp Fannin during World War II, several pioneers in the development of the area rose industry, and many prominent community leaders.