Marker Number: 14327
Marker Text:
In 1855, brothers William, Matthias and Steven Madison Richardson arrived in Henderson County from Pickens County, Alabama. The next year, they joined with the families of George. D. Manion, W.H. Martin, Ben F. Jordan, Dr. Robert Jordan, Dr. Poton S. Bethel and Hannah Taylor to start a Baptist church, initially called Bethel Church. Members chose elders R.R. Morrow and Malachiah Reeves to lead the new congregation. Hannah Taylor sold land, located on today’s Prairieville Street, to the church in 1858. On that site, congregation members built a house of worship. Local Presbyterians and Methodists also used the building.
The Baptist congregation grew and developed a Sunday School program in 1889, it changed its name to the Athens Baptist Church of Christ. Two years later, J.J. and Eliza P. Richardson sold the present site for a new church building; the name changed again, this time to Athens Baptist Church. Deacon William Richardson donated a church bell for the new building. The wood-frame sanctuary served the congregation until it burned in 1917. In 1920, a brick building was completed under the leadership of the Rev. M.I. Fuller, pastor, and the church became the First Baptist Church of Athens.
Throughout the 20th century, the congregation acquired additional property and constructed new facilities to support its education, recreation, outreach and children’s programs, including a private elementary school. The church, which has ministered to Athens residents since the middle 19th century, continues to emphasize mission work and evangelism. Its connection to the community dates to Athens’ early years, and the congregation remains one of the city’s oldest institutions. (2004)
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