First Baptist Church of Minneapolis

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First Baptist Church of Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded in 1853 at the Falls of St. Anthony, the only falls on the Mississippi River, the site of the first bridge across the Mississippi River, the largest flour mills in the world and the site of the first Hydro-electric power plant in the western hemisphere. E.W. Cressey, a missionary with the American Baptist Home Missionary Society, together with members of 1st Baptist Church of Saint Paul and St. Anthony gathered on March 5, 1853 and committed themselves to organizing a "Regular Baptist Church," the first Church organized in Territorial Minnesota west of the Mississippi River.

The first permanent home for the Church was at Third and Nicollet, and was the largest meeting hall in Minneapolis. With the rapid growth of the city a larger building was built at 5th and Hennepin in 1857 serving the congregation until the present structure was built in 1885 at 10th and Harmon Streets. William Bell Riley, known as "The Grand Old Man of Fundamentalism," served as pastor of the church for forty-five years (1897-1942) and another five as pastor emeritus until his death in 1947.