First Baptist Church of West

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's the story of the First Baptist Church of West. Back in 1858, out in a pioneer settlement called Bold Springs, thirty-two charter members gathered around a man named Alberto Vaughn, a postmaster and farmer, and they founded a church. Thirty-two people.

That's not a crowd, that's a congregation with conviction. They raised up a frame church building south of the settlement, and for a good while, that was home. Then 1882 rolled around, and a rail line came through, and the fellowship picked up and moved west, planting itself at the corner of Spruce and Pine in the town of West.

New ground, new address. The first church building at that corner went up in 1899. It stood for decades, becoming part of the fabric of that town, the kind of place a community leans on.

Then, in 1938, it burned. No softening that word. It burned.

And what do you do when something like that happens? You build again. The congregation built the present sanctuary, and they kept going.

The marker says this church has played a vital role in the community life of West for over a hundred years. Started with a postmaster, thirty-two believers, and a settlement called Bold Springs. That's a foundation that held.

What the marker says

Founded in 1858 in the pioneer settlement of Bold Springs, this church developed under the leadership of postmaster and farmer Alberto Vaughn and 32 charter members. The congregation erected a frame church building south of the settlement. In 1882, the fellowship moved to the west, at the corner of Spruce and Pine, when a rail line was built to the town. The first church building at this site was constructed in 1899. After it burned in 1938, the present sanctuary was built. For over 100 years the church has played a vital role in the community life of West.