Baptist Building

Baptist Building. . , As the twentieth century's second decade was drawing to a close, explosive growth in the churches and the work of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board led to the 1919 purchase of the Harding Building on the corner of Capitol and North President Streets in downtown Jackson, for $25,000. It was renamed the Baptist Building and was quickly filled to capacity with the ministries of the convention. When the Mississippi Building located on the south side of the Mississippi Capitol Building on the corner of North Congress and Mississippi Streets, was put up for sale by the State in May 1945, a special called meeting of the board voted to pay $110,000 for the 14,250 square-foot building. The first Baptist Building on Capitol Street was vacated at the time and the boards departments moved into the second, more spacious Baptist Building. In less than 20 years, the work of the convention had outgrown the second Baptist Building and messengers to the 1965 Mississippi Baptist Convention authorized the construction of a "new Baptist Building." Land became available one block to the east, and the second Baptist Building was subsequently repurchased by the State. The present Baptist Building on the corner of North President and Mississippi Streets was dedicated on November 14, 1968 at a construction cost of $1,100,000. The four-story building is still in use today as a home base of the 130 employees of the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board who dedicate themselves to serving the member churches of the convention.