Cedar Creek in Bastrop County, Texas — The American South (West South Central)

Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Photographed by Larry D. Moore, September 9, 2026

1. Mt. Olive Baptist Church Marker

Inscription. African American citizens of Bastrop established Mt. Olive Baptist Church in 1874, first meeting in a brush arbor. After a short time, Mary Francis Handly donated land and a small sanctuary was built, with a split cedar log pew for the congregation. This house of worship served the community until 1895, when a small frame sanctuary was built. Elm Grove School was established in 1897, with Ben Clayton, F.W.R. Thorne and Abe Yancey as trustees. The rural school enumerated 89 pupils and shared the same frame building as Mt. Olive. Soon the frame sanctuary also proved too small for the growing church.

Under the leadership of Reverend H. W. Luckett (1874-1924), Mt. Olive purchased three acres at this site from Jim Franklin in 1909 for a new church property. Trustees George Brooks, Samuel Franklin Thorne and Henry Barnett bought the acreage for thirty dollars. Mount Olive Evergreen Cemetery was also established on the land, just northeast of the church building. In 1912, trustees Abe Yancey, Tom Anderson and F.W.R. Thorne bought an additional acre from Samuel Franklin Thorne and built an addition perpendicular to the sanctuary as a dedicated classroom. Classes continued at Elm Grove until 1957, when the school consolidated with Bastrop.

The 1909 sanctuary is a front gabled rectangular plan building with an offset entrance and spire, shiplap siding and peaked windows. The 1912 addition, built perpendicular to the chancel, is side gabled with banks of double-hung windows and board and batten siding. The church has continued to serve the community as a cornerstone of worship and social activities.

Erected 2008 by Texas Historical Commission. (Marker Number 14151.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1874.

Location. 30° 6.253′ N,

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97° 25.741′ W. Marker is in Cedar Creek, Texas, in Bastrop County. It is on Mt. Olive Road ¾ mile west of Texas Highway 21, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 250 Mt Olive Rd, Cedar Creek TX 78612, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Texas

and in the Austin Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the Republic of Texas,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Mount Olive Evergreen Cemetery (about 800 feet away, measured in a direct line); Kings Highway Camino Real — Old San Antonio Road (approx. 1.6 miles away); Hopewell Rosenwald School (approx. 2 miles away); a different marker also named Kings Highway Camino Real — Old San Antonio Road (approx. 2.2 miles away); Bluff Trail Overlook

Mt. Olive Baptist Church Marker Area image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Larry D. Moore, September 9, 2026

2. Mt. Olive Baptist Church Marker Area

(approx. 3.4 miles away); Wilbarger's Bend (approx. 5 miles away); Samuel Wolfenberger (approx. 5.6 miles away); Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church (approx. 5.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Cedar Creek.

Mt. Olive Baptist Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Larry D. Moore, September 9, 2026

3. Mt. Olive Baptist Church

Credits. This page was last revised on September 10, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 10, 2026, by Larry D. Moore of Del Valle, Texas. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 10, 2026, by Larry D. Moore of Del Valle, Texas.