701 Grant Ave History - Baptist Church - updated

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Sources other than the County point to the construction date of 1901, not 1904. Louisville Times articles dates June 15, 1968 and June 21, 1973 stated that on Feb. 10, 1901, the first meeting was held in the building at Pine and Grant. These articles have particular credibility because there would have been congregation members still living in Louisville in 1968 and 1973 who had been at the first church meeting in the building or had heard about it. Also, the 1901 construction date was stated in the Church's own history booklet, "First Baptist Church of Louisville: One Hundred Years Serving the Lord 1898-1998," and in other records, such as the 1982 Inventory Record completed for 701 Grant as part of a Historic Survey. For these reasons, the date of construction is assumed to be 1901, not 1904. 2. Baptist Church Building History, 1901-1972 Church organizers received financial and other support from the Northern Baptist Home Mission Society, according to the booklet "First Baptist Church of Louisville: One Hundred Years Serving the Lord 1898-1998." The 1973 Louisville Times article about the 75th anniversary of the organization of the Baptist, cited above, also contains other pertinent details and provides a good summary. It states, "The First Baptist Church was organized on June 20, 1898, when 12 people met together for that purpose. Through the efforts of a missionary, Rose J. Clark, the group first started meeting in local homes. One year later Mr. Welch and C. A. Clark presented two lots for a building site. In 1900 Rev. William Bingham was called to be the first pastor.... Four years [after the Church began to have its meetings in the new building at 701 Grant] a parsonage was built at 500 Pine St. Since Louisville was a coal mining town this had an effect upon the life of the church and in 1917 the doors of the church were closed for three years due to the differences of opinion on labor and management. The work was again started in 1920... [I]n 1967 it was decided to rebuild and relocate the church. A $60,000 bond program was initiated and in 1970 five acres of ground were purchased on South Boulder Rd." Church leaders had the building constructed so that the front faced to the east. This may have been done for intentional religious reasons, and it may have been dictated to some extent by the placement of the lots, but it also means that the Church was built to face the commercial district of Louisville just a few blocks away. It was constructed on a rise in the ground, with its height further emphasized by vertical architectural features such as its bell tower and its tall, narrow windows. The original part of the building appears on the 1909 Drumm's Wall Map of Louisville. An excerpt of this map is shown below, with the Church building at center on lots 10 and 11: A June 18, 1986 Louisville Times article, written on the occasion of the Church congregation's 88th anniversary, gave additional historical details. The article states, "[I]n the early years the Baptists let the German Lutherans of the community hold their services in the building on Sunday afternoons. The Lutherans paid $1 a month in winter and 50 cents a month in summer to use the building." 2