Inspired by the Rev. E.E. Lee of nearby Prospect Church, elders John Claybaugh, J.W.D. Creath, D. Fisher, and J.G. Thomas, together with nine charter members, organized The First Baptist Church of Lexington in Jan. 1855, and the original building was erected later that year. The Rev. J.G. Thomas was the first pastor, and Sunday school was founded in 1866. After Prospect Church disbanded in 1949, its members joined the Lexington church, which has built five successive houses of worship, belonged to five regional Baptist associations, and been served by twenty-nine pastors.