The First Baptist Church was organized on November 19, 1853. According to the best information obtainable, the first structure used by Baptists in Hillsboro was the old wooden Courthouse. Reverend Elias Dodson, a native of Virginia and a graduate of William and Mary College, was the first Baptist preacher to hold services in Hillsboro. He was highly educated, a very zealous home missionary, and a brilliant scholar. He preached in the Courthouse around 1844. When the new Courthouse was built in 1845, he bought the old Courthouse and rolled it intact up the street to the east corner of Churton and Queen Streets. It was in this buidling and on this site that the church organized on November 19, 1854 with fifteen members - six men and nine women.

The Baptist Church, sometime between 1854 and 1860, purchased from W.J. Freeland the lot upon which the present church stands. The lot contains two acres and extends from Margaret Lane along Wake Street to King Street. The cornerstone was laid in 1860. Mr. W.M. Percival was the architect, and the builder was D. Kistler. The church was to cost $4,600. We do not know exactly when the Baptists moved into the new house, but it must have been around 1864. The evidence goes to show that the members worshipped in the basement of the church for some years. Also the records show that the building was completed by John Berry, a well-known architect and builder. Formal services were first held in the new brick sanctuary, Romanesesque style, around 1870. In the early days the tower had a spire on top. By 1923 the spire had so deteriorated that it was removed. Many of the older members longed to see another steeple on the church, but it was not until 1978 that this project, mainly financed by individual pledges, was completed.

As the church grew, the need for an educational building was realized. The church launched a movement to erect an educational building in 1952, and by the one hundredth anniversary on November 19, 1953, the new building was in use. The total cost of the building and improvements to the sanctuary and grounds amounted to $83,500. In July of 1960, a lot on the south side of King Street was bought from Calvin Ray for a future pastorium site for $4,300. "Open House" was held in the new parsonage at 223 West King Street on June 16, 1963. During 1976 a project was undertaken by the church to expand and renovate the educational building. Dedications services for the new facilities were held on April 3, 1977. The church has acquired additional property in more recent years. The Gordon/Barfield property located between the educational building and the parsonage, was purchased in 1983. The church gladly accepted a lot, just west of the church facing Margaret Lane, from James Rae and Jamie Freeland in 1985. This was known as the Collins property. The church had tried unsuccessfully to negotiate with the Collins family for a number of years to gain ownership of this land which would give the church all of the property in the block from Wake Street west through the parsonage lot.

During the church's ministry, three other congregations have branched off from First Baptist Church; Mount Bright Baptist Church, West Hill Baptist Church, and Fairview Baptist Church. The original membership has expanded from the fifteen founders to the present enrollment of 538. There have been thirty-four pastors beginning with Aaron Jones, the very first pastor. The outreach ministry of the church continues to grow, including a partnership with a church in Venezuela.

The history of this church, through one hundred and fifty years, is the history of men and women who were faithful to God and who gave themselves unselfishly for our Lord and this Church. Events have a way of escaping the record of history, but names play a very important role in our knowledge of what has transpired. From Aaron Jones Jr., the first pastor, to Randy D. Carter, the present one, a hundred and fifty years have passed in the life of a congregation dedicated to worshipping and serving God. It would be impossible in this brief resume to mention all the devoted members who have made their contributions to the church, however large or small they may have been. We do, as church members today, express our appreciation and high regard for all the pioneer members who served the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough in its early struggles, as well as those who through the years and down to the present date have labored to make this celebration of our one hundred and fifty years of existence possible.

--- Miriam Allred; updated Nov. 2003 by Reggie Carter.