Locally Owned Minority Owned Nonprofit Organizations Churches
The Church of the Colored People of Gillespie County is a historical and spiritual hub that offers insight into the lives of African Americans who lived and worked in Gillespie County in the late 1800s to early 1900s. This story begins at a time of struggle and perseverance when slavery divided the United States. Documentation shows the presence of slaves on Doss (Doff) plantation, the one and only plantation in Gillespie County. Established in 1849 by John Doss, who left his eastern life seeking the fertile soils of the Texas Hill country, Doss relied on enslaved labor to cultivate these new lands. Also on record, officers and soldiers brought slaves with them to Fort Martin Scott when it was established in 1848 as an Army out-post to protect settlers in this area from local Indian raids.