A mother and son, smiling for the camera, from Kerrville around 1925.

Eusebia de la Garza Robledo and son Josias, July 1925,
standing in front of Calvary Baptist Church,
at the corner of Jefferson and Rodriguez streets.

Many of the historical Kerrville and Kerr County photographs in my collection arrive like this: someone drops by our print shop with a group of negatives or prints, usually after cleaning out a house or closet. These images of our community are a valuable resource in telling our story; even a snapshot can reveal details about our community’s past which can be found nowhere else.

Other photographs, however, arrive in a much different way, finding their way home through the pipes and tubes of the Internet. Someone will search for Kerrville, or the name of a relative, and stumble across my history blog (joeherring.com), and reach out to me via email.

Last month, two interesting Kerrville photographs found their way to me in this way. The subjects of the photo, a mother and child, are both charming. In the background is a building: A Kerrville building.

This is the message I received from a kind person who found my column online:

First Baptist Church, before 1914

“I'm emailing you with hopes that you might help me identify a church in an old family photo of my grandfather, Josias Robledo, and his mother, Eusebia de la Garza Robledo. I've always asked where the photo was taken, because the church was just so pretty, but no one knew. My grandfather was born in September 1924 and looks to be about a year and a half in the photo. So it could be from late 1925 to 1926. I ran the photo through Google Lens, and it brought up your photo of the original First Baptist Church in Kerrville, and it looks like it is a match. From your post I also learned that the church was later given to the Mexican Baptist, which would make sense since my great grandfather, Moises Robledo, was a Baptist pastor/missionary. We never heard of any connection or stories of Kerrville, which is the only reason I have any shadow of doubt that it is the church pictured in your post. Hoping your expert eye could help confirm that it was that church.”

The church building in the background started out as Kerrville’s First Baptist Church, standing on the corner of Jefferson and Washington streets, where the First Assembly of God church building stands today.

First Baptist Church built its first church building in 1897; before that date the Baptists shared the Union Church building with three other congregations. In 1913, the congregation voted to build a new brick church building, for an amount “not to exceed $10,000.” The old frame building was donated to a Mexican-American congregation just down Jefferson Street, at the corner of Jefferson and Rodriguez streets, and moved to the new location. That congregation eventually became Calvary Baptist Church, and moved from the Rodriguez Street location in the mid-1990s, when the property was sold to H-E-B Grocery Company. They built a new church building on Methodist Encampment Road at that time, and the Jefferson Street building was torn down.

The picture sent to me over the Internet was taken in the mid-1920s, possibly in July, 1925. That month the church was host to a statewide “Mexican Baptist Convention,” and delegates from all over the state came to worship together and discuss issues important to their convention.

Among the delegates was a pastor, Moises Robledo, who likely snapped a picture of his bride, Eusebia, and their child Josias, standing in front of the historic frame church building. That photo, of a smiling mother and son, brightened my day. They look so happy.

I asked the person if I could share these photos with you – and I’m thankful she generously allowed them to be shared with all of us here.

Until next week, all the best.

Joe Herring Jr. is a Kerrville native who collects historical items from Kerrville and Kerr County’s history. If you have something you’d care to share with him, it would make him happy.  This column originally appeared in the Kerr County Lead July 25, 2024.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter is free, but not cheap to send. To show your support, forward it to someone who’d like it, or buy one of my books.  Thanks so much. (And thanks to all of you who bought books this week!)

Never miss a story from Joe. Join today for FREE.