Canaan Baptist Church was organized on September 5, 1818, in the home of Isaac Brown three miles west of Elyton. The congregation met in homes and a schoolhouse near Old Jonesboro until 1824, when its first building was erected on the site now marked by the 14th Street entrance to Cedar Hill cemetery. The Canaan Association, now the Birmingham Baptist Association, was organized there in 1833. Hosea Holcombe, a pioneer preacher and historian, served as pastor from 1822 to 1841. The congregation has worshipped at its present location since 1856.