The First Baptist Church of Mountain City is the oldest congregation in Johnson County, Tennessee. The church was founded on April 20, 1794 at the foot of Rainbow Mountain, the left fork of Roan Creek as the Roan Creek Church of Christ. The mother congregation was the Three Forks Baptist Church, Watauga County North Carolina.

      The congregation has met in two different locations and three houses of worship. The first house of worship was a log building at the foot of Rainbow Mountain. In 1843 the congregation moved into the new town of Taylorsville and built a house of worship, which is the site of the present location. The small brick building was the meeting house of the congregation until 1951, when the building was razed and the present building was built.

      Church records reveal that the church building was sold at public auction for failure to pay construction obligations after the Civil War. Just before the Civil War the congregation began a new building. The war came and money became scarce. The membership could not pay their debts. The building was sold at auction for non-payment. Mr. M. M. Wagner, a prominent member of the congregation bought the property for the balance of $575.00. He permitted the congregation to continue use of the building. On August 2, 1874, Mr. and Mrs. M. M. Wagner deeded the property to the congregation.

      The First Baptist Church was one of the original twelve churches that organized the Watauga Baptist Association in 1868.

======== [From FBC website; H/T to Bruce Gourley. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]

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