The First Baptist Church of Boca Grande, the oldest church building on Gasparilla Island, housed one of the island’s two oldest congregations. In the early 1900s, phosphate companies chose the port of Boca Grande as a primary shipping point, and the Seaboard Airline Railroad laid track to the southernmost tip of the island, helping the population grow enough to support a ministry. The congregation was organized in 1909, and at first services were held outdoors by circuit riding preachers twice a month. A building committee was organized between 1911 and 1912, and construction was funded by a loan from the Florida Southern Baptist Missions Board and by congregational donations. Completed in 1915, the church is an example of balloon-frame Carpenter Gothic style architecture. The Seaboard railroad donated a locomotive bell for the church that is still in use today. In 1928, the building was enlarged to accommodate Sunday school classrooms, and in 1934 a parsonage was built as a residence for a full-time pastor. In 2009, the church celebrated its 100th anniversary and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.