Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Historical Marker

Historical Marker 21ML02

Disclaimer: Texas Historical Commission has approved the manufacture of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church Historical Marker (Job #21ML02). Its delivery date is uncertain. Nonetheless, the marker’s inscription is official and is provided below for the benefit of the Gholson community.

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PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH

IN 1872, A SMALL GATHERING OF FORMERLY ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS LISTENED TO REV. BERNARD F. STANDIFER AS HE PREACHED THE GOSPEL UNDER A BRUSH ARBOR NEAR GHOLSON. THOSE GA THE RED WERE CONVICTED TO ESTABLISH PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH THERE BENEATH THE POST OAK TREES. REV. STANDIFER SERVED AS THE FIRST PASTOR FROM 1872-83, AND UNDER HIS LEADERSHIP MEMBERS BUil T A 12-BY-14-FOOT FRAME BUILDING, FOLLOWED BY A SLIGHTLY LARGER SANCTUARY. ED SCOTT AND JERRY WILLIAMS WERE THE FIRST DEACONS DURING REV. STANDIFER’S TERM. IN 1883, HARRY AND MARTHA ANDERSON OFFICIALLY DEEDED TO THE CONGREGATION THE ONE-ACRE PARCEL WHERE THE FIRST CHURCH HAD BEEN BUILT. PLEASANT GROVE HELPED ESTABLISH OTHER AREA CHURCHES, INCLUDING BOLD SPRINGS BAPTIST CHURCH IN 1892.

IN JAN. 1900, CLORISSA AND BEN SMITH DEEDED AN ACRE BETWEEN THE PLEASANT GROVE CHURCH AND CEMETERY TO ESTABLISH GHOLSON SCHOOL, WHICH SERVED AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS AND FAMILIES OF THE AREA THROUGH EIGHTH GRADE AT THIS SITE UNTIL 1953. BETWEEN 1900-02, THE SCHOOLHOUSE WAS USED FOR WORSHIP ON SUNDAYS WHILE A LARGER CHURCH BUILDING WAS UNDER CONSTRUCTION. UNDER REV. J.M. RAYFORD, WHO SERVED FROM 1920-24, A NEW FACILITY WITH LARGER CAPACITY WAS BUILT WITH A PROMINENT BELL TOWER. THE ORIGINAL BELL FROM THIS BELLTOWER REMAINS INTACT. AS THE CONGREGATION GREW, NEW SANCTUARIES WERE BUILT IN 1963 AND 2009. TWENTY-FOUR MINISTERS PASTORED THE CHURCH OVER ITS FIRST 150 YEARS.

WITH ITS ESTABLISHMENT IN 1872, PLEASANT GROVE BAPTIST CHURCH WAS CENTRAL TO THE SPIRITUAL, CULTURAL AND COMMUNAL LIVES OF EMANCIPATED AFRICAN AMERICANS. FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY ON THE SAME SITE, THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO BE A SOURCE OF FAITH, LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT TO ITS MEMBERS AND NEIGHBORS.