Gilmer's early settlers came in the mid-18th century, and by 1849 Baptist and Methodist congregations shared space at the county's log courthouse for services. At that time, the Rev. J.B. Tullis, a Methodist circuit rider, was appointed to the Gilmer mission, and he and J.L. Camp, Sr., organized a Sunday School for the early Methodist Episcopal Church, South, congregation, which soon received a charter and was officially founded c. 1852. In 1854 the congregation organized a men's academy, and two years later it established a women's academy; later administered by the local Masonic lodge, the schools continued until closing in 1862 during the Civil War. Education remained important in the Gilmer Methodist church, which supported reading and writing in its Sunday School programs for all ages. The congregation's first two sanctuaries were frame structures, and on this site, deeded to the church in 1881, stood the second structure, a white Gothic revival building. With more than 450 members, the congregation built a larger brick structure here in 1911, financed a parsonage next to the sanctuary in 1924, added an educational building in 1948, dedicated a new sanctuary in 1956, and constructed a new parsonage in 1974 while retaining the original home for use by the youth director and youth group. Organizations within the church have included youth and choir programs, the Women's Home Missionary Society, and the Men's Bible Class, and through its mission, outreach, and expanded facilities, Gilmer's First United Methodist Church has continued to serve its community more than 150 years after its first worship services.