The First Baptist Church in Dorchester has stood on the corner of Ashmont and Adams Streets since 1907 when the present church structure was built. Prior to that, the church was located on Chickatawbut Street.
People holding Baptist principles could be found in Dorchester at a very early date, but worshipped either with the First Parish or Second Parish Churches. In the spring of 1835, Miss Nancy Moore, a public school teacher who attended the Second Parish Church in Codman Square, organized a Sunday School at Neponset Village.
On July 12th, 1835, the first definite Baptist meeting in Dorchester was held in the Neponset Hotel, which stood near the bridge over the Neponset River. Until its demolition in 2013, it was the wooden building behind the Neponset Health Center. Later, prayer meetings were regularly held at the Minot House, now demolished, which was at the foot of Chickatawbut Street.
The First Baptist Parish Society in Dorchester was formed in December of 1836, with about 30 members. They organized the church on January 4th, 1837, as the 6th Parish Church in Dorchester. Then, on June 7th, 1837, the First Baptist Society in Dorchester was recognized by the then Baptist Council.
The Rev. Bradley Miner was the first regular pastor. In 1838, a small, one-story wooden meeting house was erected on Chickatawbut Street and was enlarged in 1843. In those early years, baptisms were conducted at Tenean Beach on Dorchester Bay. Among the names of the first parishioners can be found many of the early Dorchester families, such as Adams, Clapp, Dimock, and Minot. Church activities reflected Dorchester’s status as a farming commmunity. The dues for the Women’s Club was twenty-five cents for women and fifty cents for men. The women and men took turns meeting at each other’s homes to sew, talk about events of the day, and sing. With the beginning of the Civil War, the Women’s Club was replaced with a “Union Club” to support the men who had gone off to war.
The Church continued to grow along with Dorchester’s importance as an agricultural community. In 1845, members from the First Baptist Church in Dorchester formed the Stoughton Street Baptist Church, the Blaney Memorial Church, the Dorchester Temple, and the First Baptist Church in Milton.
By 1905, the congregation had outgrown its building. The original meeting house was sold, and new property, located on the corner of Ashmont and Adams Streets, was acquired. The new building was designed by Edward Freeman in the English County Style. The corner stone for the new building was laid on November 18th, 1905. During construction, from July to November of 1906, services were held in a tent. On November 24th, 1906, services were transferred to the still unfinished building. The sanctuary was first used on February 14th, 1907.
The church was designed with a bell tower and a large ell for orrices and Sunday School. On the evening of December 28th, 1928, however, the church building was heavily damaged by fire.
Although original records of the Church survived in the large Church safe, $32,000 in cash did not. The ell and bell tower were never built. At the generous offer of the Rector and Wardens of the All Saints Episcopal Church at Peabody Square, the First Baptist Church used the All Saints parish house for services while it rebuilt its own church building.
In August of 2005, a major water main exploded in Elmer Road, pouring thousands of gallons of water into the church hall, doing well over a quarter million dollars worth of damage. First Baptist began a seven-year legal battle to recover for the damage. In the mean time, our church neighbors once again generously reached out to help us. Having finally been compensated for the damage, the First Baptist Church in Dorchester is once again faced with a major rebuilding project.
Today, First Baptist maintains an organizational culture that treats all members as not only part of the family of God, but in a very real respect, a church family. With a distinctly multicultural membership, the Church is once again growing as we passed our 180th year of service to the Dorchester community.