First Baptist Church has served the residents of Panhandle, originally Carson City and later Panhandle City, since the late 1800s. In 1897, a group of Baptist residents organized a congregation under the direction of Rev. William H. Younger, and the church reorganized in 1905 under J. T. Burnett. Members first met in various locations before beginning construction on their own building in 1906. The church grew considerably by the 1920s as Panhandle experienced an oil boom, and Rev. A. F. Johnson ministered during this period after establishing mission churches elsewhere. Members constructed a new building on this site to house the large congregation. In the 1930s, debt from the building, the movement of area residents to Borger, and the effects of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl brought financial hardship. Under Rev. George Thompson, members raised money and paid off the church's debt in 1940. The congregation developed a long tradition of helping needy people in Panhandle and supporting missions, sending groups throughout the western United States, opening a local mission in 1997, and carrying out mission work in Brazil and Mexico. A fire destroyed the congregation's 1971 building in 1997, but the church rebuilt and dedicated a new complex on this site in 1999. It continues to serve as a spiritual leader in the Panhandle community.