Tyrrell Public Library

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and here's how I'm gonna tell it to you. Back in 1903, a limestone church rose up in Jefferson County, built to serve the First Baptist congregation. Now, there had already been a red brick church standing on that same site, but this new one was something else entirely.

Architect A. N. Dawson designed it in the Romanesque Revival style, and contractor G.

D. Patterson put it together, stone by stone. A church built to last, and as it turned out, it had more than one life ahead of it.

Twenty years on, in 1923, the Baptist congregation had grown, moved on to larger facilities, and left that beautiful limestone structure standing quiet on its lot. That's when Captain William C. Tyrrell entered the story.

He purchased the building, and then, rather than turn it to his own use or let it sit idle, he donated it to the city. For a public library. The whole thing, given away, just like that.

By 1976, when this story was set down in stone of its own kind, that old church was housing an historical and genealogical collection. Think about that the next time you go looking for your ancestors. You just might find them in a building that used to call people to prayer.

What the marker says

Built in 1903 as the First Baptist Church, this limestone structure replaced a red brick church on the same site. Architect of the Romanesque Revival style edifice was A. N. Dawson and contractor was G. D. Patterson. In 1923, when the Baptist congregation moved to larger facilities, Capt. William C. Tyrrell purchased the building and donated it to the city for use as a public library. It now (1976) houses an historical and genealogical collection. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1976