DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about Second Baptist Church in El Paso, Texas. Now, you want to talk about starting small and growin' into something that outlasts nearly everyone who knew it when — this is that story. It was 1884 when the Baptist Home Mission Board of New York established Second Baptist Church of El Paso.
The leader was Reverend E.M. Griggs, and the entire congregation at the start numbered exactly five souls: George Duvall, Thomas Gaines, Calvin Neal, and Mr. and Mrs. Joe Pollard.
Five people. Their first home was a rented one-room adobe house on South Stanton Street, tucked between San Antonio Avenue and Overton Street. Not much to look at, maybe.
But something was already taking root. Because that little congregation didn't stay five people long. Second Baptist became the religious and cultural center of El Paso's African American community — and it never left downtown to do it.
By 1888, they'd outgrown that adobe room. A frame building went up on Utah Street — new, larger, a proper house of worship. Then came the real moment of permanence.
Between 1903 and 1907, under the watchful eye of Reverend J.T. Hill, a gothic revival style brick sanctuary rose on Virginia Street. Stone and mortar and stained ambition, built to last.
And it very nearly didn't. In 1969, fire came for that sanctuary. The building was nearly destroyed.
I'll let that sit a moment — nearly a century of history, nearly gone. But the congregation held. The building was completely restored the very next year.
And in 1981, the City of El Paso recognized it as a landmark. Now the building is one thing. The people inside it are another story entirely.
Leona Washington, born 1928 and gone in 2007, was a teacher, an activist, and the founder of the McCall Neighborhood Center. Olalee McCall, born 1890 and passed in 1957, became the first female principal of the Douglass Grammar and High School — first. In a community where that title meant fighting for every inch of respect, she held it.
And then there's Reverend L.B. Adams, the longest-serving reverend Second Baptist ever had — preaching from 1952 all the way to 1970. The marker says he played a key role in enhancing the stature and importance of Second Baptist within the community.
Eighteen years of Sundays. Eighteen years of funerals and baptisms and hard conversations and hope. Five members in a one-room adobe house.
A gothic brick sanctuary on Virginia Street. A century and more of community anchored right there in downtown El Paso. The church still serves.
The heritage still holds. Some things, it turns out, you just can't burn down.
What the marker says
The Baptist Home Mission Board of New York established Second Baptist Church of El Paso in 1884 under the leadership of Reverend E.M. Griggs. Initially it had just five members'George Duvall, Thomas Gaines, Calvin Neal, and Mr. And Mrs. Joe Pollard'but soon became the religious and cultural center of El Paso's African American community. The church has always been located in the downtown area. The first home of the congregation was a rented one-room adobe house on South Stanton Street, between San Antonio Avenue and Overton Street. In 1888, a frame building was erected on Utah Street to become the new, larger home of the church. Reverend J.T. Hill oversaw construction of the current church, a gothic revival style brick sanctuary, on Virginia Street between 1903 and 1907. The building was nearly destroyed by fire in 1969, but was completely restored the next year. It became a City of El Paso landmark in 1981. The Second Baptist congregation has played a prominent role in El Paso's small, vibrant African American community for more than a century. Leona Washington (1928-2007) was a teacher, activist and founder of the McCall Neighborhood Center. Olalee McCall (1890-1957) was the first female principal of the Douglass Grammar and High School. L.B. Adams was the longest-serving reverend of the church, preaching from 1952 to 1970. He played a key role in enhancing the stature and importance of Second Baptist within the community. The church still serves the community and preserves its spiritual heritage.