First Baptist Church of Lancaster

During the 1840s and 1850s, Lancaster Baptists met periodically in private homes. On Sept. 29, 1867, fourteen charter members gathered to organize the Missionary Baptist Church. They worshiped first in the Masonic Hall, a two-story frame building that also housed three other denominations and the community school. Early baptisms were held in Ten Mile Creek. In 1873 the congregation bought a lot at E. 2nd and State Street and erected the first church building in Lancaster, a structure shared for a time with the Methodists and Presbyterians. The bell that hung in the steeple of that frame edifice is now displayed in the church yard. The Ladies Aid Society, formed in 1877, helped purchase an adjacent lot for construction of the first parsonage in 1887. This fellowship became the First Baptist Church of Lancaster in 1902. A new church building was erected in 1902-03 on this property at E. 3rd and Henry Street, purchased from Lancaster Lodge No. 160, A. F. & A. M. The pulpit and stained glass windows were transferred from that sanctuary to the present structure, built in 1951-52. Other physical facilities were added as the First Baptist congregation expanded its membership and community services.

First Baptist Church of Lancaster is a historical marker in Lancaster, Dallas County, dedicated in 1977. It is one of 352 historical markers documented in Dallas County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 574 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 32.5943, -96.7550 near Lancaster. The nearest cataloged historic site is First Presbyterian Church of Lancaster (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Head House, Lancaster, and First United Methodist Church of Lancaster.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5113006691. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.