DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to honor every word. Way out in what's now Dallas County, the land was drawing pioneers as early as 1845 — folks putting down roots, building small settlements that would grow into places with names worth remembering: Tripp, Long Creek, Hatterville, and New Hope. Four separate communities, each finding its footing in the same stretch of Texas soil.
By 1882, the people of Tripp were gathering for church services in the local schoolhouse — no grand sanctuary, just neighbors making do with what they had. And one of the men helping to hold that congregation together was C.J. Washmon, who ran a local grocery store and served as an early pastor for what would become Tripp Baptist Church.
Now that's a particular kind of person — the one who sells you flour on a Tuesday and preaches the Word on a Sunday. The church kept growing, kept reaching. In 1906, the congregation began collecting donations to build a new sanctuary.
Ten years of patient gathering later, in 1916, a Kaufman County resident named Richard Linn donated the property. And two years after that, in 1918, the building was dedicated — a white frame structure that the local Assembly of God congregation used as well, because in a small community, you share what you've got. They were holding summer revivals under brush arbors, baptizing people in area creeks and ponds and cotton gin tanks.
There's something about that last one — a cotton gin tank — that tells you exactly what kind of place this was, and exactly what kind of faith sustained it. By 1954, the congregation was ready to invest in permanence. They remodeled that original white frame structure, adding a brick façade, three classrooms, a pastor's study, and a nursery.
A bell tower came later. Dinners, Christmas nativities, educational programs — the church wove itself into the everyday life of the community, and it kept contributing to home, state, and foreign missions well beyond its own front door. Then came the 1950s, and a change that reshaped the whole region.
Tripp consolidated with Long Creek, Hatterville, and New Hope — those same four communities that had been neighbors all along — and together they became the city of Sunnyvale. They'd already been sharing things for decades, including the Long Creek Cemetery, where many of the church's own members are buried, generation after generation. Today, the history of Sunnyvale is the sum of those four stories, all braided together.
And right there at the center of one of those stories stands Tripp Baptist Church — born in a schoolhouse, raised on brush arbor revivals and creek baptisms, built up brick by brick, and still in service to its members and its community. Some institutions just endure. This is one of them.
What the marker says
Pioneers arrived in this area as early as 1845, establishing small settlements that developed over time into the Tripp, Long Creek, Hatterville and New Hope communities. By 1882, Tripp residents attended church services in the local schoolhouse. C.J. Washmon, who owned a local grocery store, served as an early pastor for what became Tripp Baptist Church. In 1906, the congregation began collecting donations to build a new sanctuary, and in 1916 Kaufman County resident Richard Linn donated the property. The building, dedicated in 1918, was also used by the local Assembly of God congregation. In 1954, the Baptists remodeled the original white frame structure, adding a brick façade as well as three classrooms, a pastor's study and a nursery. Later additions included a bell tower. Early church activities included summer revivals held under brush arbors, often in conjunction with other churches, and baptisms conducted in area creeks, ponds and cotton gin tanks. Over the years, congregation members have also participated in dinners, Christmas nativities and educational programs, and the church has regularly contributed to home, state and foreign missions, and continued in service to its members and its community. In the 1950s, Tripp consolidated with the neighboring towns of Long Creek, Hatterville and New Hope to form the city of Sunnyvale. For decades, the communities had shared resources, including the Long Creek Cemetery, where many church members are buried. Today, the history of Sunnyvale is comprised of the stories from each community, including the long-standing institution that is Tripp Baptist Church. (2005)