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First Baptist Church of Augusta

From the National Register of Historic Places nomination, written by William R. Mitchell:

The First Baptist Church of Augusta is one of many monumental buildings on Greene Street, a landscaped parkway through the historic downtown area. Designed by Atlanta-based architect Willis Franklin Denny, the building fs the major Augusta example of Beaux-Arts Classicism, an archi­tectural style which dominated monumental American architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A major feature of the building is its collection of stained-glass windows, two of which bear the inscription "Tffiany studios, New York." The site has been the location of Augusta' s First Baptist Church since 1820 and in 1845 was the birthplace of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The origin of the church goes back even further to March 15, 1817 when 18 Augusta ·citizens organized the Baptist Praying Society. (A descendent of one of the charter members is still numbered among present day member­ship.) Perhaps the most significant aspect of the church's history occurred in 1845 when delegates from Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia and the District of Columbia met at the church. From this meeting evolved the Southern Baptist Convention, an important influence in religious life in the South today.

First Baptist relocated to a new building in 1975. The old church was used intermittently by a bible college and other organizations until it was condemned in 2015. In August of 2020 the church was sold to a developer who plans on renovating into offices or a commercial space. Limited restoration work in the sanctuary began a short time later.