First Baptist Church of Denver

Situated prominently across the street from the state capitol building, the First Baptist Church of Denver was built in 1938 and is one of the city's finest examples of Georgian Revival architecture. Highly respected local architect G. Meredith Musick designed the church with a tall 160-foot tower, a grand portico with granite Corinthian columns, Indiana limestone trim, main entrance doors with limestone pediments, and pilasters at the corners of the building. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at First Baptist on April 16, 1962.

Baptists missionary Walter McDuffie Potter established First Baptist Church on May 2, 1864, six years after Denver was founded. He and his sister, Lucy, had arrived in December 1863 after the American Baptist Ministry Society appointed him as a missionary to Denver and the Colorado Territory. He held his first service on December 27. The first church was never completed; only the basement was built and was covered. As a result, it was given the nickname the "Holy Dug Out." The second church was built at 18th and Curtis Street in 1873. The congregation remained there until 1883 when the third church was built on Stout Street between 17th and 18th Streets. President Warren G. Harding (in office 1921-1923) attended services in the church during a tour of the western United States (sadly he died of a heart attack on August 2, 1923 in San Francisco).

The congregation started to consider building the present church in 1911. It bought the property in 1917 but World War I and the onset of the Great Depression stopped the project from moving forward until the early 1930s. Under the leadership of Newly appointed minister Dr. Charles Kemper, who spearheaded the effort to raise additional funds and hire Musick, construction began on June 23, 1935. The work was completed in 1938 and the first service was held on November 27, 1938.

First Baptist was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. In 1974, it was named a contributing property of the Civic Center Historic District, which is also listed on the Register.

"About." First Baptist Church. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://www.rethinkbaptist.org/about.

"First Baptist Church of Denver." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. September 28, 2005. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/05001088_text.