The First Baptist Church was founded in Jan. 26, 1868 by William Rodgers of the Rodgers & Burchfield Steel Company.  The first meetings were held in the borough’s school house until moving to a church near the old canal in 1873.  That building collapsed when the congregation attempted to expand it.  A new building was erected in 1896 with a tower and Town Clock.  A parsonage was purchased on 508 N. Fourth Street in 1918.  The 1936 St. Patrick’s Day flood did extensive damage to the church but the congregation was able to clean up and rededicate the church within 13 months of the flood.  In 1974 the congregation bought the Shrine of Sts. Cosmos & Damien on Owens View.