The First Baptist Church

The First Baptist Church was organized on December 23, 1855, with 15 members under the direction of a Presbytery of ministers John Bean, William Blackshear, E. S. Phelps, and W. W. Maund. Its first service was held on Christmas Day by Rev. Blackshear, and Rev. Maund became the initial pastor. In 1856 the church elected its first deacon, Fabian Adams, a local merchant and trustee of the Jasper Collegiate Institute. The congregation, which included slaves as early as 1859, worshiped at this site in a small wooden sanctuary. Although membership declined during the 1870s, the church later outgrew that facility, and after a year of exceptional growth a larger wooden building was erected here in 1893. With minor additions, that structure served the congregation until the present sanctuary was completed in 1943 during the second pastorate of Dr. E. A. Ingram. The church also played an important role in developing area missions, sponsoring Adams Chapel, North Baptist, Hillcrest Mission, and Tanglewood Mission.

Jasper, Texas · United States