National Register of Historic Places

First Baptist Church of Augusta

Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia
Listed
March 22, 1972
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
72000397

About this property

First Baptist Church of Augusta is a Baptist church in Augusta, Georgia. The original location is now a historical site. The current church building is located on Walton Way. According to the earliest church records, the Baptists Praying Society was established when In the year 1817, Jesse D. Green, a layman, was active in gathering together the few scattered Baptists in Augusta, and, after holding one or more preliminary meetings, the brethren and sisters, to the number of eighteen, had drawn up and adopted a covenant, to which they affixed their names. In May 1817, they met in the court house for worship. A few years later in 1820, Rev, Wm. T. Brantly was chosen for the pastoral office, and he undertook erecting a brick house at 802 Greene St., at a cost of $20,000. It was dedicated on May 6, 1821. The Southern Baptist Convention was formed at a meeting May 1845 in the First Baptist Church of Augusta, marking the separation before the American Civil War over issues of slavery and governance. In March 1817, eight men and two women meeting in an Augusta home formed "The Baptist Praying Society of Augusta" - the forerunner of the First Baptist Church. Two months later the society was constituted a church under the leadership of the first minister, Wm. T. Brantley, this property was purchased in 1870. A church on this site was dedicated May 26, 1821. In 1845, after serious friction arose in the national Triennial Convention, 327 delegates from eight southern states and the District of Columbia met here to form the Southern Baptist Convention. This building was erected in 1902. In 1975, the congregation moved to a new church on a site in Augusta on Walton Way. They sold their former church building to the Southern Baptist Non-Profit Historical Society. The Southern Baptist Convention erected an identification marker on the grounds in 1984, noting this as the site of the convention's founding. By 2003, the building was owned by the Southern Baptist Restoration Foundation. The Southern Bible Seminary had started using the building to hold classes. In August 2020, Joe Edge a local Augusta real estate developer purchased the building with plans to save the structure and redevelop it. The building fell into disrepair in the early 2000s and was abandoned after 2015. Edge purchased the building in 2020 to convert the back portion into office space and to restore the exterior of the building. Dr. Robert Jackson Robinson (basketball & Baylor) (1953–1974) Anna Olive Jones, History of the First Baptist Church, Augusta, Georgia, 1817–1967 (1967) OCLC 3638114 Supplement to the History, 1967–1992 (1992) OCLC 32522529

Location

Augusta, Richmond County, Georgia
33.47276, -81.96735

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

United States Post Office and Courthouse
Industrial
0 mi
Church of the Most Holy Trinity
Industrial
0.1 mi
Wilson, Woodrow, Boyhood Home
Industrial
0.1 mi
Lamar, Joseph Rucker, Boyhood Home
Industrial
0.1 mi
Greene Street Historic District
Listed
0.2 mi

Nearby Battles

Second Battle of Augusta (Fort Cornwallis)
1781Revolutionary War
0.4 mi
Second Siege of Augusta (Fort Cornwallis 1781)
1781Revolutionary War
0.4 mi

Questions about this property

When was First Baptist Church of Augusta listed on the National Register?

First Baptist Church of Augusta was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 22, 1972.

What type of historic resource is First Baptist Church of Augusta?

First Baptist Church of Augusta is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for First Baptist Church of Augusta?

The period of significance for First Baptist Church of Augusta is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near First Baptist Church of Augusta?

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