First Baptist Church was organized on Jan. 14, 1872, by the Rev. W. Henry Parks. Some charter members came from Springfield Church, founded in 1846, after Springfield was bypassed by the Houston & Texas Central Railroad in 1871 and absorbed by Mexia. After first meeting in a Lodge Hall, the congregation built a church in 1873. Four buildings have stood on this site, thirty-two pastors have served the church, the congregation helped found two other churches, and it sent out missionaries Mildred Cox Mein to Brazil from 1934 to 1971 and John E. Mills to Africa from 1947 onward.