First Baptist Church of Williamsburg, KY

Many a county-seat town in Kentucky has remained without a Baptist church for years while it was ringed about with such congregations in the adjacent countryside. This was true of Williamsburg, the seat of government for Whitley County. A number of factors combined in 1883, to make possible the constituting of the Williamsburg Baptist Church. (The name was changed to First Baptist Church in 1906-1907).

In 1883, a branch of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad on its way to Knoxville, Tennessee, reached the sleepy little village of Williamsburg, on the Cumberland River. Lumbering and coal mining accompanied railroading. The town grew and in three years was supporting churches of six denominations.

The Baptist church was formed by eleven charter members on September 19,1883, in the midst of a revival meeting conducted by Green Clay Smith, of Louisville. Initially, the church met in borrowed buildings: a schoolhouse on Sycamore Street near Fifth Street, the courthouse, and occasionally the Christian Church.

During its existence, the church has constructed three meeting houses, all on the same site on South Fifth (once Depot) Street. The first one was outgrown by the congregation, the second building burned in January 1924.

The church spent the greater part of 1924, planning for a new building and soliciting funds for its construction. In June the architectural firm of Dougherty & Gardner, of Nashville, Tennessee was employed to plan the new church house and to supervise the building of it. The lowest bidder on the contract put out by the architects was Worsham Brothers, of Knoxville. By February 1926, the work was done, and there the building stood in all its beauty. It was beyond the ordinary that the "small community" of Williamsburg should have erected such a church house. It was dedicated during February 24-28. But it had not been completely paid for until January 1938, when two notes were burned in a joyful ceremony. (You can find more details about the construction of the new building.)

The three meeting houses of the Williamsburg church have provided for more than a century a shelter for God's worshipers.

Rev. Levi Jackson Steely (1842-1884, served 1883-1884)
Rev. William Henderson Brummett (1855-1927, served 1884-1885)
Rev. Robert Cummings Medaris (1858-1942, served 1885-1888)
Rev. William James Johnson (1864-1894, served 1889-1893)
Rev. John Newton Prestridge (1853-1913, served 1893-1897)
Rev. Henry H. Hibbs, Sr. (1862-1936, served 1897-1911)
Rev. Elijah Floyd Wright (1869-1951, served 1912-1919)
Rev. Condie Collins Pugh (1867- , served 1921-1924)
Rev. Robert G. Bowers (1869-1926, served 1925-1926)
Rev. Louis Shoup Gaines (1898-1966, served 1927-1931)
Rev. Alfred Paul Bagby, Sr. (1880-1953, served 1931-1937)

Dr. Thomas Eugene Hunnicutt West (1902-1995, served 1937-1943)
Dr. Herbert Conway Gabhart (1914-2009, served 1943-1951, more information )
Rev. Clyde H. Freed, Jr. (1922-2004, served 1952-1960)
Dr. Robert Leland Palmer (1916-1988, served 1960-1969, more information)
Rev. James William Highland (served 1970-1975, more information)
Dr. David William Perkins (served 1976-1981, more information)
Dr. Harold Steely Mauney (1937-2005, served 1982-2000, more information)
Rev. Kevin M. Roberts (served 2001-2003)
Rev. Ed Talley (served 2006-2009, more information)