Site of First Baptist Church

Front: In 1825, Wm. Bullein Johnson opened a subscription for a Baptist meetinghouse, which was soon built here. The 120 foot-square lot, which extended well into present McBee Ave., was given by Vardry McBee. After its organization in 1831, First Baptist Church occupied the building here until it moved to West McBee Ave. in 1857. The church moved to its present location on Cleveland Street in 1974. Reverse: When Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was organized in 1859, the old Baptist church building once located here was divided into two classrooms and library for the school's use. First faculty was James Petigru Boyce, John A. Broadus, Basil Manly, Jr., and William Williams. Crawford H. Toy and William H. Whitsitt joined before the seminary moved to Louisville, Ky. in 1877.