Canaan Bapist Church - Crawford, TX - Country Churches on Waymarking.com

In about 1884, Heinrich Engelbrecht, moved to this area from the Brenham. Soon, several other families moved here from Brenham and from Austria. The community became known as Prairie Chapel.

On October 25, 1891, Canaan was officially organized with about 47 charter members. Because of travel distance, some services were held without a minister, so the congregation used books of sermons, which the members read during the service.

In 1894, the congregation decided to build a church that would measure 50x30 feet. A parsonage also was completed by the end of the year.

Church customs at this time differed greatly from the present. The men would sit on the right side of the church, the women on the left, and the children in the front. At Canaan, the men and women sat on different sides of the church until the mid-1970s.

The first remodeling project for the church took place in 1928 as side wings and drop doors were installed to provide four Sunday School rooms. Also at this time, the tower and steeple were built, and the fence around the cemetery, church, and parsonage was installed. The fence along the road in front of the church was subsequently removed years later. A Delco light plant also was installed to furnish electricity to the church and parsonage; however, in 1936, a power line to the church made the light plant unnecessary.

In the early 1950s, the church underwent further remodeling as the steeple was repaired; walls and ceiling were covered with acoustical paneling; hardwood flooring was added; the pulpit, the electric organ, and cushioned seats in the sanctuary were donated; and the fellowship hall was built.