A black and white postcard of the First Baptist Church, circa 1930-40’s. The structure is located on upper Main Street/ lower Tombstone Canyon. The front caption reads: “First Baptist Church Bisbee, Arizona 6-y-51”. The postcard is unused, and the publisher is unknown. Chris Mullinax Collection.

The Bisbee Baptists officially formed on June 26, 1904 at a meeting in the Copper Queen Library. At that time there were twenty-five members. Reverend George H. Brewer helped organize the church and Reverend V. D. Hodgen served as the first pastor. They held their meetings in the Copper Queen Library and the Pythian Castle before their first church was built on Castle Hill, which unfortunately burned in the 1908 fire. The First Baptist Church on Main Street was built in 1919 in the Spanish Mission style for $25,000, about $428,000 in 2022. The dedication services were held on February 23, 1919, which was arranged by Reverend H.C. Compton. The building had a seating capacity for 580 attendees in the main auditorium and fourteen classrooms. Six of the classrooms were on the upper floor and the eight on the main floor had sliding doors that could be moved if the congregation were too numerous for the main auditorium. The building remained in service as a church until 1991, it was later transformed into the Bisbee Blue Theater.

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