First Baptist Church - 1961 - Gladewater, TX
Posted by: 
WalksfarTX
N 32° 32.234 W 094° 56.629
15S E 317460 N 3601653
Congregation founded in 1844.
Waymark Code: WM106YV
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/10/2019
Views: 0
Longview News-Journal 10/28/95"Founded in 1844, the church wasn't originally the First Baptist Church of Gladewater, according to a history of the church prepared in 1990. The church was originally located in the Bethel Community, about a mile and a half from Gladewater, and soon after its founding became the New Bethel Baptist Church.
Services, when a pastor was available, were conducted in a log cabin, which was replaced by a frame building after the Civil War. About 1899, the church moved to Gladewater into a frame building, largely built by the pastor, Brother Goode, who was also a carpenter. Baptisms were conducted in Moody Creek, the Sabine River and Shepperd's Pond.
As the oil boom of the early '30s caused Gladewater to grow, so the church also expanded.- According to attendance records, the church added about 300 new members and Sunday School attendance grew from 40 to 225 in 1931. Because of the massive growth of the congregation, a new brick church was erected in 1932.
The sanctuary now on site was constructed in 1960-61."