Palo Duro Baptist Church grew out of Union School, built by settlers around 1893, where area residents held a non-denominational Sunday school. In 1901, Baptists in the Palo Duro community, named for the creek crossing northeastern Deaf Smith County, held a revival at the school, and on October 26, 1901, 12 charter members organized the church. The Rev. J.F. Killman served as pastor, and the congregation first met one weekend each month. After area pioneers John and Janette Womble offered land in 1905, the congregation completed a church building in 1906 with community donations, and Methodists also used it. The church’s membership rose and fell in its early years with area population trends. It became a charter member of the Amarillo Baptist Association when that body formed in 1953, and in 1954 it took part in a televised service at the KGNC television studio in Amarillo. Its later work included starting a Spanish mission for Bracero farm workers in 1960, then supporting Spanish-speaking congregations in Hereford and Amarillo after that program ended, while also aiding shut-ins and the elderly, hosting orphans from Buckner’s Baptist Children’s Home, awarding student scholarships, working with children with disabilities, participating in prison ministry, and organizing local and foreign missions.