Chartered with nine members, the Lufkin Baptist Church began conducting worship services soon after rail lines reached the townsite in the early 1880s. The Houston, East & West Texas Railroad donated land at this site to Joseph Kerr, E. H. F. McMullen, and W. L. Denman, church trustees. The first sanctuary was built in 1893, during the pastorate of the Rev. W. C. Manning. A leader in mission development and in the support of Christian education, the First Baptist Church has played an important role in the growth of Lufkin since the earliest days of the town. (1985)