First established as the Elim Baptist Church in 1858, this congregation was dissolved in 1877 and revitalized in April 1896 as First Baptist Church under the leadership of Rev. O.D. Bowen. The church moved to this location on Main Street in October 1947 after purchasing an army chapel from the surplus sale of Camp Van Dorn, a U.S. Army training base located in Centreville, Mississippi. This chapel served the church through hurricane Camille (1969) but had to be replaced after hurricane Katrina (2005).