First Christian Church was organized in 1849 and was affiliated with the Campbell-Stone Movement in its plea for Christian unity. From 1895 to 1965 it was located at Seventh and Jefferson. Its tower bell, cast in 1868, was used on area river packets for sixty years. Following the 1937 flood, the Murrell Blvd. congregation merged. It was part of the largest and oldest religious body indigenous to the United States.