First Baptist Church

Front: Established in 1831 as Darlington Baptist Church of Christ, with Rev. W.Q. Beattie as its first minister; joined the Welsh Neck Association in 1832. The first sanctuary, built in 1830 just before the church was formally organized, was replaced in 1859 by a second building. During the Civil War the church offered its bell to be melted down to cast cannon for the Confederacy. Reverse: This church, which has licensed or ordained 14 clergymen since 1831, was renamed First Baptist Church of Darlington in 1912; the present brick sanctuary was dedicated that December. The Hardin Building was built in 1924; the Jones Building in 1956, the Illy McFall Memorial Building in 1975, and the E.S. Howle Fellowship Hall in 1983. Additional renovations were completed in 1997.