1980 - Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church - Bartlett, TX - Dated Buildings and Cornerstones on Waymarking.com

The cornerstone notes the 1980 rebuild, although it gives December 13, 1981 as the precise date when the Masons leveled it. Take your pick: While woven into the fabric of the building, it was most likely not the proverbial first stone laid down. The church has a very active Facebook page (see Website, below), while a 1999 Texas Historical Marker provides some history:

Bartlett was a small farming community in 1898. Black American laborers arrived each fall for the cotton harvest. Thomas Sanders and Nelson Secret and their families called the Reverend F.E. Garrett of Temple to help them establish Mount Arie Missionary Baptist Church in June 1898. Among the first families of the church were those of the Reverend W.M. Muckleroy, Wallace Dotray and C.A. Harris. The small congregation originally met on the Bell County side of Bartlett, but in 1910 had grown enough to prompt a move to Brook Street in Williamson County.

The years 1921 and 1933 were lean ones. The church building was moved to Bowie Street in 1953 because of unstable land on its Brook Street site. The structure was modernized in the 1960s and 1970s. Membership increased dramatically, and the congregation began to integrate after 1977.

The eighth decade of the church's history brought new developments. The congregation moved into a new brick facility in 1980, the same year the church name was changed to Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church after it was discovered that Mount Arie was an abbreviation for the name of the mountain on which Noah's Ark landed as depicted in the Old Testament.

The Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church celebrated its centennial in June 1998. The congregation supports widespread missionary and outreach programs. The membership and its diversity continue to increase as the congregation carries on in the traditions of its founders.

Year of construction: 1980 Full inscription: Mount Arie Missionary Baptist Church Organized --- June, 1898 Rebuilt --- October, 1980 Mount Ararat Missionary Baptist Church Reverend Ira Lewis, Pastor Deacons Howard Roberson, Chr S.P. Crathers, Sr Mack Williams Charles Smith Johnny Williams Gentry L Powell, Jr Trustees Gentry L. Powell Jr, Chr Rufus Anderson Johnny Williams Levered by [compass and square] M.W. Scottish Rite Grand Lodge A.F. & A.M. of Texas, Inc. Hon. L.H. Bostick, 33, G.M Dec 13, 1981 Cross-listed waymark: Not listed

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.