Image Credit: Chemung County Historical Society

ELMIRA, N.Y. (WENY) -- A fire in Elmira took out a big piece of history on Thursday night, the former First Baptist Church. The church has deep roots in the Southern Tier including being the venue for Ernie Davis' funeral and serving as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

The version of the church that stood tall just a few days ago was built in the 1890s and it served as a place of worship for more than 100 years before closing in 2009.

Rachel Dworkin, the archivist at the Chemung County Historical Society, shared some background, photos, and documents with WENY News to help provide some insight into the church's significance.

"It was designed by local architecture firm Pierce and Dockstader and it housed the church from 1892 through 2009, when they merged with the Southside Baptist Church to form the United Baptist Church and moved to a smaller location," said Dworkin. "And it had been on the market for a while and eventually they sold it in 2011 and it's just been stuck in limbo since then basically."

The First Baptist Church was founded in 1829. It originally ran out of a schoolhouse before land was acquired in 1832 near what is now known as Wisner Park. During that time, the first iteration of the church was built on the property.

The most recent structure isn't the first one to catch fire, however. In the 1840s, the church was reconstructed into a second structure which was later damaged by fire, leading to the construction of a third building in the 1890s. This building was dedicated in 1892 and it now sits in ruins in 2025.

On Thursday night, spectators watched the historic church as it went up in flames and part of the building collapsed, thinking back to what it once was.

"This beautiful historic building," said Brent Stermer, the minority leader of the Chemung County Legislature. "At this point I don't think that there's anything left to it other than the bricks. It doesn't look like it could be saved in any way. It's such a beautiful building and to have that connection with John Jones it's just absolutely horrible to see it the way it is now."

John W. Jones was the sexton of the second building of the First Baptist Church which happened to be a stop on the underground railroad due to his work as a conductor. The phrase "conductor" was somewhat of a code word at the time, Dworkin adds, to refer to someone as a point man in the community.

"During his tenure as sexton, he used the church and church resources to help on the Underground Railroad and he saw like 800 people to freedom during his work," said Dworkin.

She added that Jones would help hide people and find food, money, clothing, or anything they may have needed. He would then arrange for them to move to the next stop down the line. Elmira has a rich railroad history as well because it was on an actual train line. Jones worked with baggage handlers of the train company to get those seeking freedom onto the baggage car to make it to Canada.

Moving back to now, when the church was sold, the Chemung County Historical Society obtained decades of donated records and documents including photographs from over the years, copies of blueprints from Pierce and Dockstader's 1892 version of the church, and even programs from various events held at the First Baptist Church over the years.

Dworkin adds that the history will continue to be preserved, even if the building is lost. However, the shock and sadness of losing a local historical monument can also serve as a reminder. She says that those who have memories of the church should take the time to share them with the younger generation so the community will still know about it for years to come.

"It's sad and people are very sad when we lose our treasures in our community and it seems to the point where Elmira and our region, people are so giving and caring and try to, you know, look out for each other," said Stermer. "So I'm hoping, you know, we can do something as a community to think about the people who may have had a family history there or experiences."

WENY News will have continuing coverage of this story and will provide updates as they are made available.