Church serves its community for 96 years
Church serves its community for 96 years
Written by Compiled by Christopher Kincaid Friday, 07 April 2006
During the early 1900s, those who did not farm were often employed in the ice factory or worked in the area’s cotton industry. In Pflugerville, the African-American workers were not allowed to live in the town.
In 1910, farmer and entrepreneur La Rue Noton set off one of his 1,200 acres west of the town to be divided into lots and sold to African-American workers for $50 a lot.
This area was officially named the Colored Addition in the county records in April of 1910. The original settlers of the Colored Addition were Pete McDade, George Caldwell, Will Smith, Ned Tyson, Willie Allen, and their families.
Soon after the settlement was established, St Mary’s Baptist Church was built to serve the families in this settlement. Ten years later in 1920, St. Matthew’s Missionary Church was constructed. A third church, the African-American Methodist Episcopal Church was also added to the Addition. These churches served members who lived in various communities around Pflugerville. St Mary’s Baptist Church also operated a General Store in the fellowship hall.
Santa Maria Cemetery, located on FM 1825 across from Pflugerville High School, was established in the 1920s for the burial of African and Mexican Americans. The cemetery is divided into two separate Mexican and African-American sections.
In 1978, Travis County commissioners attempted to change the name of the Colored Addition to the Western Addition, but failed to gain legal approval from the residents.
The Colored Addition never held more than six families at a time, but at least 55 families have lived there since 1910. St. Mary’s Baptist Church was remodeled in 2000 and is located on 1202 W. Pecan. Of the three original churches in the Colored Addition, St. Mary’s Baptist Church is the only one remaining.
On Feb. 12, 2005, the Texas Historical Commission dedicated the Santa Maria cemetery as a Historic Texas Cemetery.
Some information from the oral history project being conducted by the The Friends of the Pflugerville Community Library. Contact Mary Hines, Project Director and Reference Librarian, Pflugerville Library – 251-9185.
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