102 South Congress Street
City Directories and History: 1908 – Rev. R.I. Murray, Pastor (w wife Ida, living on Jefferson St., near College Street),
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Jan. 14, 1891 – “A contract has been awarded to Mr. James Manes of Lancaster for the erection of a new church edifice for the Yorkville Baptist congregation. The auditorium will seat 260 people and there will be a lecture room with 90 chairs and a study in the rear for the pastor. The bell tower is to be 72 feet tall.”
On Feb. 25, 1891 the paper reported – “Mr. James Manes of Lancaster, who was awarded the contract for the new Baptist church in Yorkville, has failed to sign the contract. A new contract has been awarded to W.G. Adams of Rock Hill. The plan has been enlarged for a building 38-62 ft., with a seating capacity to 450. The floor will be inclined with seats in a circular form and their will be stained glass windows and two towers.”
The Yorkville Enquirer reported on Oct. 21, 1891 – “The new Baptist church in Yorkville is now about completed and will soon be ready for dedication.”
The YV Enquirer contained an ad on Sept. 11, 1895 – “for the sale of the old Baptist Church, which stated the lot and building nearly opposite the new church is being offered for sale. The lot has a frontage of 48 ft., and extends back to Whitaker and Glenn’s lot.”
First Baptist Church, of late Gothic Revival architecture, was organized in May 1866, as the Yorkville
Baptist Church. Among the fifteen charter members were two former slaves. The present sanctuary cost about $4,000 and was dedicated on January 10, 1892. Later the women of the congregation acquired the Gothic stained glass windows from a church in Gastonia, NC. The first pipe organ was installed in 1935. It’s more-recent
successor came from Grace Baptist Church in Sumter, SC. In 1954 pews replaced theater-type seats in the Sanctuary. Classrooms at the back of the sanctuary were added in 1927, and in 1936 the two-story educational building was erected. A renovation and building project, begun in 1991, includes the covered drive-through entrance and parking lot on the north side of the educational building, and a large fellowship hall and office wing, located behind the older facilities. Among the treasures of the Church are seven oil paintings by artist Robert Nippress. These are displayed in the vestibule and in the hallway behind the sanctuary.
[Courtesy of the Yorkville Historical Society – 2002]
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