Site of Organization of the First Baptist Church of Mart

In Jan. 1878, local Baptists met at H. J.Breland's home to hear the Rev. C.C. Hardwick preach. Three months later, on April 28, 1878, eighteen Baptists gathered under a large elm tree at this site to organize the first church in the community of Willow Springs, later renamed Mart. The Rev. T.D. Suttle was the first pastor. Near the tree, the congregation built a frame church and established a burial ground, which became Mart City Cemetery. The church moved from this site in 1893. (1977)