1st Baptist Church

1st Baptist Church, 620 South 4th Street; 1870 and 1887; Josiah L. Rice, Architect, of Clinton.Originally built in 1870, the building was badly damaged by fire on July 27, 1887. The exterior brick walls were left standing and were retained and incorporated into a four -months' long reconstruction of the building. The shingled belfry was part of the reconstruction designed by Josiah L. Rice. A "recent" one-story addition to the south has a shallow, pitched shed roof behind a wall of the front façade. Another more recent one-story addition is attached on the north side of the building.The building is a handsome brick adaptation of the Romanesque Revival Style that was especially popular for ecclesiastical architecture in this country from about 1855 to 1870. Including the reconstruction, this building was the third church on this site. The first church was a small, frame building that was moved c. 1869 to 311 South 3rd Street, and which is still standing.