| Marker Number |
14537 |
| Atlas Number |
5507014537 |
| Marker Title |
Webberville Ebenezer Baptist Church |
| Index Entry |
Webberville Ebenezer Baptist Church |
| Address |
1314 Weber Street |
| City |
Austin |
| County |
Travis |
| UTM Zone |
14 |
| UTM Easting |
643012 |
| UTM Northing |
3344682 |
| Subject Codes |
African American topics; Baptist denomination; churches |
| Marker Year |
1993 |
| Recorded Texas Historic Landmark |
No |
| Marker Location |
Webberville community, Webberville Ebenezer Baptist Church, Weber St. SW of FM 969 |
| Private Property |
No |
| Marker Condition |
In Situ |
| Marker Size |
27" x 42" |
| Marker Text |
This church traces its origin to the plight of Anglo American John F. Webber, who along with his African American wife and children, settled in this sparsely populated area of Texas in 1839 to escape the racism they had experienced in towns and cities. A community known as Webber Prairie consisting of plantation owners and their slaves developed here. Racial prejudice caused Webber to sell his land to Colonel John Banks in 1851 and move his family to Mexico. In 1868 Matthew Duty donated one acre of land here for the purpose of building a church for the area's recently emancipated African Americans. That year the Webberville Ebenezer Baptist Church was organized as a mission of the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association. Charter members included Thomas Reads, Suns Johnson, Lowens Berry, and Mary Green. The Rev. Wesley Barrow served as Ebenezer's first pastor. In 1956 several members of the congregation left Ebenezer Baptist to form a church in Austin which became known as the New Light Ebenezer Baptist Church. Ebenezer Baptist remains active despite the relocation of many of Webberville's families to nearby urban centers. Former members continue to gather here on special occasions and holidays. (1993) |
