| Marker Text |
Val Verde Baptist Church traces its history to 1875, when eight members of the Baptist Church in Davilla joined together to organize a congregation closer to their homes. J. S. Mullins served as the first pastor of the new church. One of the charter members, James Putnam Whittington (1830-1909) was a veteran of the Civil War. A member of H. H. Sibley's brigade in the New Mexico Campaign, he had participated in the Battle of Val Verde. When the time came to name the new church, Whittington suggested Val Verde, and the other members agreed. The congregation met in a small schoolhouse until 1884, when Whittington donated this property for a larger sanctuary and community cemetery. A building was erected which served the members for the next sixty-five years. In 1949 a surplus army chapel was moved here from Brownwood to serve as a new sanctuary. Church members worked to rebuild the structure, and it was dedicated in January 1951. An annual church memorial day has been observed by present and former members of the congregation since 1982. The Val Verde Cemetery on the church grounds contains the graves of many area pioneers. |
