Nocatee began as a lumber manufacturing town during the 1880s, and in the late 19th century its growth was stimulated by two neighboring businesses west of the Florida Southern Railroad tracks and south of County Road 760/Welles Avenue: the King Lumber and Manufacturing Company, established by W.G. Welles in 1896, and the Nocatee Crate Lumber and Manufacturing Company, opened a few years later. The Nocatee Crate Company eventually became the largest employer in Desoto County, prompting the construction of many homes and businesses. Its success came from developing the “4-One” packing crate, built of wire wrapped around wood corners and veneer strips, which made it cheaper and partly easier to ship fruits and vegetables to market throughout the U.S.; the crates could be flattened and stacked, and their light weight reduced shipping costs and waste. Several buildings along the west side of U.S. 17 were constructed by the Nocatee Crate Company and rented to its employees, and when the company closed, the homes were sold to residents at auction. The Nocatee Baptist Church, later known as the First Baptist Church of Nocatee, was organized around 1890 and first held services in a local school under the pastorship of the Rev. T.J. Sparkman. In 1915, B.F. Welles, brother of company co-founder W.G. Welles, donated land for a brick church east of U.S. 17, and the new building, which used a Greek cross plan with a cross gable roof, Gothic style windows with Queen Anne colored glass, and a bell tower, held its first service in 1916. The church split temporarily in 1935 because of a controversial divide in the congregation and was reunited by 1936. From 1949-1956, a new classroom building as well as a kitchen and recreation hall were constructed. Although the church was taken down in 2014, the Florida Department of Transportation assisted the congregation in salvaging the arched windows and bell, and the top of the bell tower, or cupola, was relocated to the DeSoto County Historical Society property in Arcadia.