Little Hope Baptist Church - Little Hope, TX
N 32° 47.815 W 095° 14.894
15S E 289477 N 3631011
The Little Hope Baptist Church is located across from the Little Hope Cemetery at Wood County Roads 3984 and 3900 -- off of FM 312 -- in the tiny community of Little Hope, TX.
Waymark Code: WMWBTX
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 08/09/2017
Views: 1
A 1983 Texas Historical Marker provides some background:
Led by Elder Jacob Ziegler and Deacon P.M. Gunstream, the five charter members of this congregation held their organizational meeting in 1881 under a nearby arbor. Legend holds that the church was given its name because there was little hope the church would survive more than a year. In spite of the skepticism, the fellowship began to grow steadily. Early members were received into the congregation following baptisms held in J.A. Stinson's mill pond.
A portion of the land on which the church is located was donated in 1881 by J.D. Cox. Near the end of the nineteenth century, Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church purchased three additional acres. In later years other small tracts of land, including the site of an old schoolyard, were added to the church property.
For more than one hundred years Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church has provided service and leadership to this area of Wood County. Soon after its own organization, the congregation helped establish the nearby East Point Missionary Baptist congregation. The growth of Little Hope Missionary Baptist Church reflects the ideals and religious dedication of its founders, while the historic congregation is a reminder of the area's rich heritage.
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Web searches will turn up occasional references to the church, typically in obituaries, and the grounds are very well-maintained, indicating that the congregation is still active. They have a slight Facebook presence, noting that they meet on Sundays at 11 AM.
There is frequent confusion between this and the identically-named Little Hope Baptist Church near Canton. Both are regular subjects on humor websites, which have a tendency to post a photo of one while identifying it as the other. Not so funny is that the Little Hope near Canton was one of ten East Texas churches targeted by arsonists (who were caught) in early 2010.