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Mount Olive Baptist Church Denison, Texas   The
church was organized in 1888 by Rev. John Grant in a brush arbor on the
McDade farm. Rev. Grant was the first pastor of the newly
organized church and Bro. McDade served as head deacon. Soon the
church moved into a house on 300 E. Nelson St. The next move was
to the west side of Travis Ave. and Monterey St. where their first
church building was built. Later the building was moved across
Travis Ave. to the east side and a new addition was built onto the
church building.
The church's first parsonage was built at 1114 S. Travis Avenue. In 1940 the congregation purchased land at 401 E. Day St. Open air meetings were held until their church building located on Travis Ave. was moved to E. Day St. and remodeled. When the late 1800s building was torn down, the members of Mt. Olive Baptist Church worshipped with those of St. Paul Baptist Church at 418 E. Nelson St. In 1959 their new church building was completed. A cornerstone was laid in 1981 under the pastorate of Rev. J.E. Kelly, Jr. After a severe storm in 2013 the church sanctuary, two bathrooms on the south, and the south vestibule sustatined severe damage due to sewer backup. Due to costs for repairs, the congregation had to decide whether to spend money on repairs or purchase another building or church. Southside Baptist Church had built a new church in 2010 and their former building at 1131 S. Scullin Ave. was for sale. After speaking with Pastor Taylor, he and the Southside congregation agreed to allow Mount Olive Baptist Church to use the vacant facility. Southside Baptist Church had both a building and gym to sell but an agreement was made to sell just the church building; a time frame of two months was allowed by Landmark Bank of Denison to collect the $70,000 down payment. With the generous giving of Pastor and Mrs. Kimberly Blakely, Bro. Leon and Sister Velma Criss, Bro. James and Sister Theresa Jones, Minister Gary and Sister Moore, Bro. Aaron Peters, Sister Arleta Criss, Bro. Dennis and Sister Myrtle Ransom the huge task was accomplished. In August 2013 the old Southside Church located at 1131 S. Scullin Avenue in Denison was purchased by Mount Olive Baptist Church. Church History Events  Mount Olive Baptist Church History Churches Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |