Seattle First Baptist Church was organized in 1869 by 11 men and women on a lot donated by Elizabeth (Jones) Holgate (1796-1880), a widow who had lived in Seattle since at least 1856. The wooden church was built on the east side of Fourth Avenue, between Cherry Street and James Street. The building was abandoned after 1908 when regrading of Fourth Avenue left the building inaccessible. The Municipal Building, housing Seattle City Hall, now stands in this location. In 1912 a new First Baptist Church building was opened at Harvard Avenue and Seneca Street, and is still in use. This portrait features the members of the building committee for the new church. They are posing on the waterfront where new church members were baptized in Elliott Bay. The individuals have been identified as, seated, left to right: Walter I. Johns; Arthur Herbert Dimock (1866-1929), city engineer; Herbert S. Upper (1866-1950), real estate developer; and John McMaster. Standing, left to right: George W. I. Jones (1850-1920), real estate salesman; Charles H. Knosher (1870-1945), dry goods merchant; Ulysses Grant Fay (1865-1918), architect of the new church building; Frank Joseph Martin (1865-1929), fire insurance agent; Benjamin Walsh Pettit (1867-1944), bank teller; Samuel Maxwell Mccollough (1863-1929), building contractor; Charles J. Erickson (1853-1937), contractor who regraded Fourth Avenue; Reverend Dr. Benaiah L. Whitman (1862-1911), Clergyman; and Horace L. Compton (1860-1923), lumber manufacturer.

Handwritten on recto: Building Committee meets to consider plans for new Church Bldg. ca 1908 (Seattle First Baptist Church - Seward & Seneca), built in 1910. Church founded 1869 - original bldg. between James & Cherry on Fourth Typed note attached to photo: Grading of Fourth Ave. left First Baptist Church high in the air and it was abandoned. A building committee was named to plan the new church at Harvard Ave. and Seneca St., still in use today. The committee is pictured on he waterfront where new members were dipped in chilly Elliott Bay. Caption information source: Campanario, G. (2012, September 29). Reaching for the sky, long before the Needle - Seattle Sketcher. The Seattle Times, pp. B1 Caption information source: http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2012/09/first-hill-seattle-first-baptist-church-celebrates-100-years-of-service-in-seattle

• Subjects (LCTGM): Churches--Washington (State)--Seattle; Group portraits; Seattle First Baptist Church (Seattle, Wash.)