140 Years of Jesus in Idaho Falls

  A number of pastors have lived their final years if not most of their lives in Idaho Falls, and their bodies are buried in Rose Hill Cemetery. One of these is Rev. Randolph E. Smith, who died 100 years ago, on November 25, 1925. Rev. Smith came to live in Idaho Falls in 1909 but was familiar with the city many years before in his position as Presiding Elder in the Montana district of the Methodist church, which at the time extended as far south as Pocatello.   He visited Idaho Falls in his official capacity in the early days of Eagle Rock and knew this community from almost its beginning.   Randolph Smith was born near Williamsburg, Ohio in 1844.   At age 18 he enlisted in Company G, 89 th regiment of the Ohio infantry as a volunteer. About 13 months later he was wounded in the Battle of Chickamauga and was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps until being honorably discharged in 1865. Shortly after his return from the war, his aunt, whose brother was the...

  The first organized church in Idaho Falls was Baptist and met for 125 years, from 1884 to 2009.   This First Baptist Church was instrumental in starting a second church, Zion Baptist Church, the first church planted in Idaho Falls by a church in Idaho Falls.   While Zion Baptist Church had a very short life, it led to another church, called the Second Baptist Church, which lasted much longer and had a direct influence on starting another church in Idaho Falls which is still meeting.   Here’s the story: Zion Baptist Church The front page headline of the Idaho Falls Morning Times-Register of April 8, 1921 announced: Colored Baptist Church Organized Meetings Will Be Held in Basement of (Baptist) Church Every Sunday Afternoon A meeting was held last evening in the basement of the Baptist church for the purpose of establishing a church for the colored people of the city. J. Polk Taylor, colored Baptist minister of Pocatello, was present and was assisted in pe...