Hopewell Baptist Church

Organized on August 2, 1866, Hopewell Baptist Church was founded by ten charter members: Emily Meador, Thomas Meador, Elizabeth Ann Meador, John M. Tate, Mary Tate, Eleanor D. Bright, Eleanor Crabb Bright, Sarah McDonnell, the Rev. Hardeman Royster Puryear, and Caroline Adams Puryear. The first worship service was a protracted meeting of several days, during which 15 new members joined the church. The Rev. Mr. Puryear was called as the church's first pastor. The congregation purchased three acres of land in the summer of 1867, and by November 1868 their first sanctuary was completed. Located adjacent to the present Hopewell Cemetery, the building served the congregation at that site for four decades. After the townsite of Navarro was laid out along the Trinity and Brazos Valley Rail Line, the congregation voted to relocate and the church building was moved in 1907. The only church in the community, Hopewell Baptist has continued steadfast over the years. After a 1939 wind storm damaged the sanctuary, it was rebuilt near the original site. Hopewell Baptist Church remains an important part of the area's history.

Hopewell Baptist Church is a historical marker in Navarro, Navarro County, dedicated in 1990. It is one of 128 historical markers documented in Navarro County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 218 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.0089, -96.3769 near Navarro. The nearest cataloged historic site is Old Jones Cemetery (cemetery), about 0.6 miles away. Others within a short drive include Bright-Boyd Cemetery, Providence, and Corsicana Field, Air Activities of Texas.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5349007212. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.