Donated by Jean Gilley.

Shady Grove Baptist Church was organized in 1875 by the following ministers: Rev. West Godify, Rev. Charley Clark, Rev. Hammlin, Rev. C.C. Wilson, and the Rev. O. Mothershed. Each of the above ministers served as pastor of the church.

The first chruch was located about one mile from Bloomburg, Texas. It was build among a grove of trees that provided shade, thus the name Shady Grove.

In the 97 years of the church history, a total of 19 pastors have served. Perhaps the most memorable is the Rev. Oscar Mothershed, one of the founders. Rev. Mothershed served from 1890-1926, thirty-six years of service.

Like most rural churches Shady Grove served as teh center of activities for the community. And also, like most rural churches, the membership has dropped from more than 200 members to about 75 to 80.

From 1926 to present the following ministers have served the church: Rev. Holmes, Rev. Temer, Rev. Johnson, Rev. C. Shepherd, Rev. Beasley, Rev. Marcray, Rev. Wilder, Rev. Sims and the present minister Rev. F. J. Wade.

In 1968, a portion of the church was destroyed by fire. Three years later, under the leadership of Rev. Wade, a new church was dedicated. The Church is still the center of activities for the community.

The present deacons are: Mr. Burl Beasley, Mr. B. F. Mothershed and Mr. Rufus Butler. Rev. F. J. Wade is Pastor and Mrs. Essie Beasley, Clerk.

This article must have been published about 1972, as it is titled Shady Grove Baptist Near 100th Birthday. (The article states "in the 97 years of the church", and also that it was "organized in 1875") It has been photocopied several times, the photo is gone. But the article gives quite a bit of its history. The caption under the photo states: The Shady Grove Baptist Church dedicated its new building in 1968. Pictured in front of the church are Mr. & Mrs. Burnice Johnson, Linda and Vicki James and their two cousins from Texarkana.