The earliest Baptist services in New London took place around 1674, only twenty-nine years after the founding of the town. Ministers from Newport, Rhode Island, conducted these services and the converts became members of the Newport Baptist churches. The early local Baptists functioned under the protective wing of Gov. John Winthrop, Jr. and the first baptisms took place at Winthrop Cove.

The Baptists increased slowly but steadily for several decades and by 1710 they had grown enough to organize a church of their own. Doing so, they built their first meetinghouse on Niles Hill in what was then the outskirts of New London. The meetinghouse, because of its peculiar shape (square, two storied, with a hip roof), was called the "Pepperbox." Elder Stephen Gorton became their first pastor and, using this church as a "launching platform," the Baptists spread from here all across the State of Connecticut. Unfortunately, dissensions aroused by the "Great Awakening" destroyed the Pepperbox in 1771.

Broken and scattered by the Pepperbox dissolution and the Revolutionary War, the New London Baptists were unable to reorganize until 1792. First meeting in the Court House at the top of State Street, they gradually rebuilt and, in 1804, formally organized as the First Baptist Church. Thwarted in their attempts to buy land for a meetinghouse, they were forced into subterfuge to acquire unwanted land at the corner of Union and Pearl Streets and there built a humble structure on what became known as the "Baptist Rocks." In derision, their plain building was called the "Hog House"!

However, once established, the "Hog House" experienced such rapid growth that a larger meetinghouse was needed by the 1850s. By this time the Baptists' position in New London was much stronger and this fact is reflected by their move to State Street, probably the most prestigious thoroughfare in town. They had arrived! Purchasing the land in 1854, the congregation built the present typical Victorian style structure in 1856 ... the interior remained unfinished during the Civil War and the economic hard times that followed.

The interior was finally completed in the 1880s and the congregation celebrated by installing the stained glass windows, in many ways so representative of the Victorian period. Donated by various families and organizations within the church, the windows were formally dedicated in 1892. The beautiful window on the State Street wall of the church was added in 1931.

By World War I, First Baptist had become the largest Protestant church in New London. As a result, the need for an education building became acute. The congregation addressed this need by building the large four-story addition at the rear of the present church. This, in turn, allowed for even further membership expansion.

By World War II and continuing through the 1950s, First Baptist Church had become the largest Protestant church east of the Connecticut River and the second largest Baptist church in the state. However, shifting population growth to the suburbs and widespread socioeconomic changes in the city took their toll on the church and it suffered significant membership declines in the 1960s and 1970s.

Though no longer a large congregation, First Baptist nevertheless remains a healthy, vibrant organization committed to serving the needs of its urban neighborhood.