First Baptist Church

Front inscription

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 inscription

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.