Built in 1902 in the Beaux-Arts style. Architect: Willis Franklin Denny of Atlanta. Contractor: C. L. Rounds. The Baptist Praying Society was established in Augusta in 1817, and completed their first building on this site in 1821 with John Lund as their architect. In that building the Southern Baptist Convention was founded in 1845, eventually becoming the largest Protestant denomination in the world. The present building is notable for its cross-gable plan, its copper dome, its monumental Corinthian columns and its tremendous arched windows. The congregation moved to West Augusta in 1975, and this building has subsequently been used for fledgling Southern Baptist congregations and since 2003 has been used as the Southern Baptist Bible Institute and Seminary.