The First Baptist Church of Lake Forest, home to a small yet vibrant Baptist community, has called Lake Forest its home for over 100 years. As a primarily African American congregation, some of the members could trace their roots back to formerly-enslaved people who moved to Lake Forest around the Civil War, as the town was known to be home to a number of abolitionists.

Through the succeeding decades, this African American population often held service-related jobs in town and lived in certain neighborhoods; many community institutions like churches were largely separated by race. Around the turn of the century, local African Americans came together to join a small Baptist community that had migrated to Lake Forest from Asheville, North Carolina, where they were members of the Nazareth Baptist Church. In the absence of a church building for the group, services were held in the homes of local members for several years, until the congregation began renting space in Healy’s Hall, which was located at the corner of Bank Lane and Westminster. With this new space, the congregation grew and members began searching diligently for a place to call their own.

In 1903, the Church acquired land at 673 Oakland Avenue in LF, built a structure, and had completely paid it off by 1912. This is the present location of the church. In 1917, extensive renovations were done. The Hammond Organ was installed in 1954.

The church saw a decline in membership beginning after the first World War, as local building projects threatened the town’s African American neighborhoods; and a greater decline in the later 20th century. Thanks to the efforts of devoted members, it has survived and today remains a part of the greater Lake Forest community.