Settlers in the farming and ranching community of Florence gathered in April 1856 to hear the Rev. Robert Hay Taliaferro preach and formally organize a church, originally known as the Baptist Church of Christ and renamed First Baptist Church during the first decade of the 20th century. Among the noted Baptist ministers associated with the congregation were Taliaferro, its organizing pastor, who came to Texas from Kentucky in 1847 and established a number of Baptist congregations in the new state; Brother E. McDaniel, its first permanent pastor from 1856 until 1869; and the Rev. George Washington Baines, who served from 1870 until 1877. Baines, the great-grandfather of U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson, came to Texas in 1850 and was president of Baylor University at Independence as well as pastor of a number of Baptist churches in Texas. In 1869 the congregation built its first sanctuary, which also served as a community schoolhouse and meeting place for other religious and fraternal organizations in Florence. As its membership grew, new facilities were built as needed, and its outreach and community assistance programs became an important part of the social and religious heritage of this part of Williamson County.