First Baptist Church of Augusta

First Baptist Church of Augusta Historic Augusta, Inc.

First Baptist Church of Augusta is one of many monumental buildings on Greene Street. Designed by Atlanta-based architect Willis Franklin Denny in 1902 and completed in 1903, the building is a significant example of Beaux Arts Classicism. This architectural style dominated monumental American architecture in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 

Reflecting the Beaux Arts school of eclectic Classicism, the overall character of the building is one of massiveness, symmetry, and restrained Baroque monumentality. The imposing dome on top is a climax to the massiveness of the entire building. The exterior features a heroic portico with six modified Corinthian columns. Varied textures highlight the many planes from the motif of the pediment, to the Corinthian columns, to the masonry. 

The building served Augusta’s First Baptist Church from 1820 until the early 1970s when the congregation moved to Walton Way Extension in West Augusta. The origin of the congregation goes back even further to March 15, 1817, when 18 Augusta citizens organized the Baptist Praying Society.  Perhaps the most significant event in 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 and formed the Southern Baptist Convention.  The Southern Baptist Convention is an important denomination in religious life in the South today and the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.