City: Tallahassee   County: Leon   Year: 2023
Location: 108 West College Ave

SIDE ONE: On November 10, 1849, Reverend J.T. Zealy led his congregation of nine to form a Baptist Church in Tallahassee. The following year, it joined the Florida Baptist Association. By 1854, the church had grown to 265 members. Judge T. W. Brevard bought land on College Avenue to build the first church, which was dedicated on July 4, 1858. During the Civil War, membership waned. When US troops occupied Tallahassee in 1865, they used the church as a hospital and barracks. In 1894, the name “First Baptist Church of Tallahassee” was adopted. On January 21, 1900, a remodeled church was reopened with a new Byzantine inverted onion dome tower and spire. Fifteen years later, this original wooden church was replaced by a classical revival-style building. Due to growing membership, a new colonial revival sanctuary with educational wings was dedicated by Pastor Dr. Harold G. Sanders, Dr. Doak S. Campbell, and Governor LeRoy Collins on September 29, 1957. This building incorporated features from previous structures, including a stained-glass window and prayer rail from the 1858 church, which were installed in the vestibule, and one of the seven stained-glass windows from the 1915 church is in the Mary Lou Sanders Memorial Chapel. SIDE TWO: First Baptist Church of Tallahassee has been defined by constant growth and outreach. Through the support of the Florida Baptist Convention in 1935, the church built a Baptist Student House on the campus of Florida State College for Women and has since continued its ministry to students. First Baptist established several local churches, including Lakeview Baptist (1937), University Heights (1947), Thomasville Road (1948), Crawfordville Road (1957), Haywood Cates (1961), and Morningside Baptist Church (1983). The church began a ministry to the deaf in 1958 and to foreign students in 1961. The congregation was racially integrated in the early 1960s. In 1960, property bordering Adams Street and Park Avenue was purchased. It held two historic buildings: the Columns and the Union Bank Building. Both buildings were donated to the State for preservation and moved to other locations downtown. To further serve Tallahassee, the church dedicated the E.C. Allen Christian Life Center in November 1974. In 2011, the Welcome Center was constructed to connect all church buildings. First Baptist has led the way in disaster relief support, care for the needy, and partnering with community ministries both locally and around the world.