First Baptist Church

125 SE Cowls Street  |  Built 1926

A wooden L-shaped building once stood on the southeast corner of Cowls Street, serving as
McMinnville’s original secondary school and the first home of the college that became Linfield
University. Built in 1857 for $3,600, the structure also hosted the town’s earliest Baptist
activities. Pioneers Samuel and Mahala Cozine, along with Sebastian and Sarah Adams, stood
among the first members. Informal Sunday school and prayer meetings began here around 1858–
1859. The congregation formally organized as the First Baptist Church on May 11, 1867, and
continued worshiping in the school building until the college moved to its new campus in 1883.

Shortly thereafter, the congregation replaced the old school with a simple 34-by-54-foot woodframe
church topped by a 65-foot tower. They painted the building yellow and brown and, on
December 2, 1883, Reverend W. J. Crawford oversaw its dedication. In 1898, under Reverend R.
W. King, the congregation built a new Queen Anne-style wood church with a steeple on the
same site for $5,800.

In 1926, under Reverend W. E. Henry, the church issued $500 gold bonds to members and the
wider community at six percent interest. The successful campaign raised $80,000 to construct
the present Spanish Colonial Revival building. This architectural style, very popular in
California and the South, remains rare in Oregon, making First Baptist a distinctive landmark
among the surrounding Victorian, Queen Anne, and Italianate structures. The building features
elegant carvings on arches, columns, portals, and door surrounds, along with a bell tower that
displays iron balconets and round-arched windows with iron grills. The congregation added an
education wing with glass double doors in 1964. The church celebrated its 150th anniversary in
2017 and continues to serve the community actively, as it has for more than 150 years.

For images of the the property, and further details, check out the link below:

Historic Resources Inventory Documentation