"In 1920, Mrs. W. Harvey Jones, whose husband came to Valdese to work at the cotton mill, began an English-speaking Sunday school for the workers and their families. The English-speaking gathering was distinguished from the French worship services held by the Waldensians who founded Valdese in 1893. Mrs. Jones' Sunday School was taught outside with the pupils sitting on a hack of lumber, and she spoke often about the need for a building to house the group. John Louis Garrou, a Presbyterian, allowed her to use an empty cotton mill house on a temporary basis. But eventually, he decided to help Mrs. Jones build a meeting place on cotton mill land. It was called the 'Community Church Building.' From that Sunday School sprang most of the churches in Valdese, including ours. First Baptist Church was formally organized with forty charter members on Sunday, May 23, 1920 under the leadership of Rev. Dr. Fred Bowers, Pastor of First Baptist Church in Morganton. Dr. Bowers pastored the church from 1920-1921, and was followed by Rev. George Abernathy from 1922-1923. By September of 1924, with Rev. Avery Lineberger as Pastor, the congregation set about finding a building for their meetings. In that year they purchased land and broke ground to begin the new First Baptist Church of Valdese. The building, located on Church Street, served the congregation well until the 1950s under the leadership of Rev. J. R. Greene (1927), Rev. W. E. Bost (1928-1932), Rev. M. I. Harris (1933-1948), and Rev. Fred Mauney (1948-1952). In 1954, with Rev. Jason Ross as Pastor, the church decided not to remodel the building, and instead began to raise funds for a new facility. In 1959, the congregation called Rev. W. A. Huneycutt as Pastor. Though he led the transition to the new building, some said that it actually took four pastors to build the new building: Rev. M. I. Harris, 'a man of prayer;' Rev. Fred Mauney, 'a dreamer;' Rev. Jason Ross, 'an evangelist' (1953-1958); and Rev. W. A. Huneycutt, 'a man of action' (1959-1972). After years of hard work and prayer, the church moved into its new building in September of 1965. In building the new facility, the church incurred a debt of $362,000. Payments were made faithfully, and the building was dedicated when the note was burned in the 1970s. Pastors in this era included Rev. Charles Midkiff (1973-1977) and Rev. William Thompson (1978-1982)."--Taken from: http://www.valdesefirstbaptist.org/page/history.