First Baptist Church of Sweetwater was organized on December 11, 1881, by the Reverend Peter Turner (1812-1892), a native of England, and served settlers of the pioneer railroad town of Sweetwater. The congregation's first church building, a frame structure with an ornate steeple, was completed in 1882 on the corner of 4th & Elm Streets, and several other denominations shared the building for a time. Church members organized four Baptist missions in Sweetwater beginning with the Lamar Street mission in 1912. To accommodate increasing membership, new sanctuaries were built in 1924 and 1960.