During one cold northeast Missouri winter, Pastor Ralph M. G. Smith of First Baptist Church of Kirksville noticed that some members of his congregation were not making it to church. After checking in with a few of these families the reason was clear. These individuals and families lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the old shoe factory on the southwest part of town. Every Sunday morning they would get up early and walk all the way downtown in order to attend church services. During the winter it just got too cold, making walking to church unbearable, sometimes even dangerous. Pastor Smith saw a need and led his congregation to meet that need. Together they decided that this neighborhood needed a church of its own.

Through the work of a visionary pastor and a giving congregation, Hamilton Street Baptist Church was born. Beginning as a mission of First Baptist Church of Kirksville in 1954, the members held their first meetings in a house located on the same site as our present building. A variety of young men filled the pulpit at that time. Many of them were members of the Baptist Student Union. The church called its first full-time pastor, Rev. Ernest Deatrick, in 1957.