The Rev. Thomas D. Suttle (1840-1900) and 18 Baptists assembled on April 28, 1878, under a large elm tree at the present site of Mart City Cemetery (1 Mi.SE), where they organized the first church in the town of Mart, originally named Willow Springs. Near the tree, the fellowship built a church that also served as a schoolhouse, and burials in the adjacent cemetery began in 1880. During the pastorate of the Rev. B.F. Tatum (1853-1928), from 1889 to 1896 and from 1899 to 1900, membership almost quadrupled. In 1893 the church moved to Navarro Avenue and in 1906 to its present location.