The First Baptist Church was built in 1817 and is a North Attleborough landmark at its site between Park (75 Park Street) and North Washington streets known as the Baptist Common. After the Civil War was declared, a company of North Attleboro volunteers drilled on the common in front of the church.
On Sunday, June 2, 1861, these men, Company I of the 7th Massachusetts Volunteers, attended a service at the First Baptist Church. The sermon was delivered by Rev. J.F. Ashley who was also the Captain of Company I. The following day the volunteers marched from the Baptist Common to join their regiment.
The First Baptist Church was gutted by fire on December 23, 1951. It was restored but the front entrance was changed. Most of the original church was still standing after the fire.
In 2003 the bell inside the church's tower was restored by three volunteers, who repaired the bell's supports and mechanisms. This bell, the fourth cast for the church, was cast in Troy, New York in 1883. The bell had been silent for more than three decades. Thanks to the volunteers, it can now be heard every Sunday morning.
