The first Baptist church in what was then the territory of Alabama was the Flint River Baptist church founded by twelve people on October 2, 1808, at the house of James Deaton a few miles to the north of Huntsville (now known as the Flint River Primitive Baptist Church[1][2]).
Prior to that there had been several Baptist preachers in the territory, including John Canterbery and Zadock Baker.
[3] The geography of the state in the 19th century, with highly different political and economic groups physically isolated from one another by poor transport and communication links, resulted in several Baptist conventions emerging.
Members of Siloam Baptist Church in Marion and the Alabama Baptist Convention founded Judson College in 1838 and Howard College, later renamed Samford University, in 1841.
The Alabama Colored Baptist State Convention, which changed its name in 1974 to the Alabama Missionary Baptist State Convention, was founded in 1868 in Montgomery and by the turn of the 21st century comprised over 1000 churches.