Second House of Worship completed and Dedicated on February 22, 1843. Location is in Main and Salem Streets.
Rev. John Cookson was Pastor when the second House of Worship was completed and Dedicated. Welcome back Rev. John Cookson, author of the Church Covenant. It was 19 years since he Pastored the Church in 1824 but only served in one year (1824-1825).
On March 3, 1855 tragedy struck. The beautiful second House of Worship was destroyed by fire. The building was only 12 years old. The Pastor at the time was Rev. William Stubbbert (1851-1860). Plans quickly progressed to action and in less than one year, a Third House of Worship was constructed on the same site of the burned building in 1856. The building now includes a Baptistry. Total cost of construction was in the vicinity of $12,000. In 1862, just 6 years after it was built, the Third House of Worship was struck by fire and damaged the walls. Despite the fire’s intensity and rapid spread, the Sanctuary Pulpit and the Bible were saved. The Pastor at the time was Rev. Daniel W. Faunce (1860-1866). Rebuilding was hard as the country was engaged in a Civil War. With such crisis, however, the church moved on. With the House of Worship gone, the church rented the Town Hall for their Sunday meetings. Two fires in 7 years destroyed two Houses of Worship. The first in 1855 that destroyed the Second house of Worship and the second fire in 1862 that destroyed the Third House of Worship. Those tragedies were depressing experiences for the church. Eventually despite the austerity of the war years, plans had to be made to rebuild the church home.Source: One Hundred and Seventy Five Years of The First Baptist Church of Malden (1803-1978), 1st Edition by Dorothy L. Foxon, May 1979.
One Hundred and Ninety Five Years of The First Baptist Church of Malden (1803-1998), Addendum to 175th Church History by Rev. Martha A. Dominy
Article: Church Buildings by David L. Williams, 2003