OLDEST Black Baptist Church in Gregg County - Judson, TX - Superlatives on Waymarking.com

The church is located north of Longview, TX in the Judson community at 7967 US Hwy 259 N. The historical marker provides some great history, but makes no reference to the church's being the oldest Black church in the county, but the article (see link, below) states it right away:

"By Dustin Taylor dtaylor (at) news-journal (dot) com Reporter Apr 9, 2016 Updated Mar 9, 2018

The oldest black Baptist church in Gregg County will be honored today with a state historical marker.

Founded by the Rev. Daniel Sherman in 1870, Sherman Chapel Missionary Baptist Church was born from freed slaves' desire to establish places of worship in their own communities, according to information from the Texas Historical Commission.

The church has moved a handful of times in its 146-year history, but never far from its original site on U.S. 259 North — originally known as Texas 26 — in Longview.

It caught fire in the mid-1940s, and a new building had to be built. And in the 1980s, the church had to move back from the road when U.S. 259 was widened, but before the building was moved, a drunken driver crashed into it, forcing another rebuilding effort.

Church member Evelyn Johnson-Hines said, at the church's peak, about 20 families attended; there now are eight.

Johnson-Hines has been the main force behind acquiring the marker for the church.

Rufus Johnson, Johnson-Hines' father, said he has been attending Sherman Chapel since the 1970s.

'I don't anticipate going anywhere else,' Johnson said. 'We made our home here, so this is where we'll stay until the good Lord says move.'

A church deacon, Johnson said he initially started the process for getting a marker for Sherman Chapel years ago.

'It seemed like it was so much work, I just kind of dropped it,' Johnson said. 'Then Evelyn (moved) back to Longview and got involved with the church (again).'

'She started working on this thing, and she just took it and ran with it.'

Johnson-Hines said the process of obtaining the marker through the Texas Historical Commission wasn't easy, and at times she found herself overwhelmed.

She eventually contacted Gem Meacham with the Gregg County Historical Commission for help.

'She was wonderful. I don't think I would have done it without her help, because it was a lot of work,' Johnson-Hines said.

Johnson-Hines said she had never stopped to read historical markers scattered at sites throughout Texas.

'I didn't really visit historical markers before I started on this work,' she said. 'Since I started this process, I started going out to read the historical markers, because you do find out a lot of great information and a lot of things about history just by reading that marker.'

Johnson said he thinks Sherman Chapel obtaining the marker could encourage other area churches to pursue the historical landmark designation.

The church holds Wednesday and Sunday services during the summer and Sunday services only during winter.

Sunday services are at 11 a.m."

The historical marker reads:

Following Emancipation, many African American congregations were founded in East Texas in the 1870s. As freedmen, they wanted their own places to worship in their own communities. Established in the Judson community in 1870, Sherman Chapel Missionary Baptist Church was organized with support from Reverend Daniel Sherman. In the early years, the church building was shared with the Pleasant Hill Colored Methodist Episcopal Church (later named Christian Methodist Episcopal Church) until each congregation could construct a sanctuary.

The first location was on Freedmen's Ridge near Omega in northeastern Gregg County, a community formed after the Civil War for emancipated slaves. In the early 1940s, Sherman Chapel Congregation briefly relocated to a site one-quarter mile north of here to a place known as "In the Pines." After a fire destroyed the building in 1945-46, the church congregation began to search for a new home. In 1947, land was purchased on State Highway 26 which was later renamed Highway 259, and construction of a sanctuary began.

The church commemorated the building's completion on March 9, 1952, when they began their annual church anniversary celebration. In the 1980s, the sanctuary was rebuilt on the same lot due to the widening of the highway. For more than a century, Sherman Chapel Missionary Baptist Church Members have nurtured, educated and fostered spiritual growth in the community with leadership and support. Throughout the decades and sometimes jarring changes, the congregation has remained a spiritual beacon for the families of the area.

Type of documentation of superlative status: Newspaper article/website Location of coordinates: Texas Historical Marker at church Web Site: [Web Link]

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