First Baptist Church grew out of the earliest known religious work in this county, the preaching of Baptist elder D.S. Babb from 1867 to 1873. It was organized in 1873, and known charter members included Col. G.R. Freeman, S.C. Messer, J.P. Murphree, Mrs. Elizabeth Rice, Capt. A.H. Watson, and W.B. West. Its first pastor was the Rev. Dave White. In 1874 it joined the Leon River Baptist Association, to which its 18 members gave $12 in 1875. After meeting in Capt. Watson's box schoolhouse at 305 E. Henry, the courthouse, and the Presbyterian sanctuary, the congregation built a native stone church in 1896. The present structure was erected in 1971.