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First Baptist
Church of Bagdad
BAGDAD VILLAGE HISTORIC DISTRICT
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES - SANTA ROSA COUNTY, FL
First Baptist
Church of Bagdad
In the early 1900s, groups of Baptists met at various locations around Bagdad. Their first meetings were held under some of the areas large Live Oaks. They later held meetings in different homes. Between 1911 and 1914, the groups began meeting at the Odd Fellows Hall on Forsyth Street which resulted in the formation of a mission church named the Missionary Baptist Church of Bagdad, Florida.
In 1916, Bagdad Land & Lumber Company deeded a parcel of land to the Missionary Baptists where construction of a church began. In 1918, the Baptists officially became organized and were no longer a mission church. Soon after, the new church building was complete and stood on the corner of Forsyth Street and Garcon Point Road. By 1923, they were known as “The First Baptist Church of Bagdad”.
In June of 1926, the congregation moved next door to the old wooden school house which lay empty until remodeled. The bell from the Bagdad Land & Lumber Company’s gang mill belfry was placed in a new belfry atop the old school house. In an impressive candlelight service, the new church building was dedicated. The bell tolled for forty-five minutes while church members marched from the old church to the new one. The choir led the procession singing, "When They Ring Those Golden Bells."
The church was eventually razed and the present sanctuary now stands on this site displaying the mill bell out front.
Today, this small church with a huge heart can regularly be found serving in a variety of roles. They operate a food pantry and a clothes closet serving the local community. Their ministry extends to international mission trips taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. For more information, visit: https://www.facebook.com/FBCBagdad/ or http://fbcbagdad.org/
