1894 to the present.........

In 1894 a group of 18 men and women were led to organize a future Baptist Church in our newly developing community which later, in 1905, came to be called Cottondale. The church was known as the Baptist Church of Christ. The church name was later changed and for 41 years, it was called Cottondale Baptist Church. Finally, in 1935, the church’s name was changed again and became the First Baptist Church of Cottondale.

Twenty-seven years after the building of the first church, three Sunday school rooms were added to the auditorium. In 1947, a brick worship building was built. The Homecoming Celebration of 1948 was the first service in this new building. In 1962 Grace Hall was added. The Fellowship Hall was added in 1982. Then on November 25, 2013, a fire broke out and destroyed the Worship Center and the Fellowship Hall. On November 15, 2015, out of the ashes, the New Church Dedication Celebration was held.

The church has had 29 pastors over the years. It is located at 3172 Main Street in Cottondale, Florida. The mailing address is P. O. Box 128, Cottondale, FL 32431.

The pastors of the church are as follows, with two pastors serving at two different times:

1897-1899 W. A. Bryan, 1900-1901 G. W. McRae, 1901-1902 no pastor, 1902-1906 J. W. White, 1906-1907 no pastor, 1907-1909 C. L. Burns, 1909-1912 J. G. Black, 1912-1913 B. B. Blitch, 1913-1919 P. M. Jones, 1919-1921 R. W. Stuckey, 1921-1922 W. L. Spears, 1923-1924 R. W. Stuckey, 1924-1927 P. M. Jones, 1927-1928 O. B. Harris, 1928-1929 D. W. Hodges, 1929-1946 F. C. Hawk, 1946-1949 L. J. Larkins, 1949-1951 J. F. Hall, 1951-1953 W. A. Frye, 1953-1955 Joe L. Kaiser, 1956-1957 Frank Farris, 1957-1960 Ernest Olds, 1960-1961 W. C. Graves, 1961-1966 Pratt Dean, 1966-1969 Harry Powell, 1969-1978 Dan Thomas, 1978-1982 Dr. Wiley Richards, 1982-1983 Dr. Judson Vaughn, 1983-1985 Bob Anderson, 1986-1987 Thomas Melvin, 1987-2022 Jack H. Brock, 2022-2023 no pastor

The founding members were as follows: Mr. A. F. Thomas, Mr. W. A. Walling, Mr. W. T. Graves, Mr. D. F. Cox, Mr. A. C. Thomas, Mr.G. M. Thomas, Mr. G. A. Fellows, Mr. J. L. Massey, Mrs. J. L. Massey, Mrs. R. A. Walling, Mrs. Levey, Mrs. Ada Graves, Mrs. J. L. Massey, Mrs. Benie Thomas, Miss Lula Massey, Miss Eunice Massey, Miss Eula Walling, and Miss Gussie Padgett.