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First Baptist Church Knoxville; image by Jeaneane Payne

First Baptist Church was founded in 1843 with 46 members, including 20 African Americans. The congregation met in a room at the old courthouse until a church building was constructed on Gay Street in 1844. Slave and free worshipped together.

When the Civil War reached its peak, worship services were temporarily cancelled, and the church building was used as a hospital by the Union Army. When the building was returned to the congregation following the war it was barely usable. First Baptist dedicated a new building in 1887. Continued growth of membership required Bible studies to meet in Gay Street shops and army tents pitched on the church grounds. The church moved into its current structure in 1924.

The church is located at 510 W. Main Street, Knoxville TN 37902 • 865-546-9661