In 1856, Florence was a small settlement of log cabins and a store or two, and it also had a stone building east-southeast of this site on land donated in 1845 by John C. Caskey that served as a church and meeting place. Before then, settlers worshiped in homes and other meeting places. The Methodist congregation in Florence shared the stone building and also shared its pastor, as early Methodist ministers in Texas rode circuits serving several communities, with the Florence mission, part of the Waco district, at the head of a circuit. In 1858, Rev. John Carpenter was officially appointed as the church's first pastor. The congregation bought additional interest in the building and gained full ownership in 1910, remodeled it, and used it until 1924, when it was sold for use as a Primitive Baptist church. The Methodist congregation then built a new church at this site in 1924 and used it until a brick church was erected in 1968. Over the years, the Florence Methodist Church served the community through its organizations, including the Home Mission Society established in 1890, which later became the Women's Society of Christian Service, a livestock fundraising program created by Methodist men in 1957 for a new parsonage, and youth groups, with the first junior league established in 1900. In 1960, the congregation was voted Church of the Year by the Central Texas Conference of the Methodist Church, and in 1968 its name changed to the First United Methodist Church of Florence as it continued as a vital part of the community.