Salado Church of Christ

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I tell it back to you. The Salado Church of Christ. Bell County, Texas.

Now, every good story has to start somewhere, and this one starts in March of 1859, under a brush arbor on the north bank of Salado Creek. No walls, no roof to speak of, just branches and sky and a congregation finding its footing on the Texas frontier. The first two elders were James Anderson and J.W.

Vickrey, and those two men were busy. Not only were they helping organize this congregation, they were also instrumental in organizing Salado College. Elders and educators both.

That's the kind of founding stock a community remembers. Now, the congregation didn't stay under the open sky for long. By 1875, a proper frame sanctuary had gone up on North Main Street.

Solid enough, it seemed. But in 1908, fire took it. Just like that, the first real building was gone.

A second frame structure rose to take its place, and that one served the people of Salado faithfully, decade after decade, until 1961, when the congregation replaced it with a brick sanctuary. Something built to last. And then, in 1988, a new building was erected once again.

From a brush arbor on a creek bank in 1859 to a new building standing in 1988, this church kept showing up for the people of Salado. Fire couldn't stop it. Time couldn't wear it down.

That's not just a congregation. That's a cornerstone.

What the marker says

Founded in March 1859, this congregation first met in a brush arbor on the north bank of Salado Creek. The first two elders were James Anderson and J.W. Vickrey, both of whom were instrumental in the organization of Salado College. A frame sanctuary, erected on North Main Street in 1875, was destroyed by fire in 1908. A second frame structure served the congregation until 1961, when it was replaced by a brick sanctuary. A new building was erected in 1988. This church has served the people of Salado for over a century. (1988)