Local History

Before Titusville: The Legacy of LaGrange Community Church

Editor

19 Jul 2025 — 6 min read

The LaGrange Community Church in present day Titusville appears to be the oldest standing church building in Central and South Florida.

Claims to the “oldest church” can be difficult to stake. Are we talking about the oldest church building? Or maybe the oldest congregation? Or perhaps the oldest continuing congregation? In the case of LaGrange Community Church in Titusville, the Brevard County Historical Commission was satisfied to certify it as “the first organized Protestant Church on the East Coast of Florida between New Smyrna and Key West.”

LaGrange is a historic settlement that predates Titusville and was first settled in 1852. The church and cemetery complex was established in 1869 on land donated by Tom Johnson Cockshutt. The land initially housed a simple log cabin on the north end of the plot which served as a public meeting place and the first public school in Brevard County in addition to hosting Sunday church services. The current church building was constructed on the south-west side of the plot in 1872. Remodeling in 1893 added a Carpenter Gothic façade to the 1872 log cabin structure along with the pointed steeple and stained glass windows.

*The Carpenter Gothic façade was laid overtop of the original log cabin frame of LaGrange Community Church in 1893.*

The small church served many congregations over the years, including First Presbyterian of Titusville, which closed its doors in 2020 after a 133-year legacy, Mims Methodist Church, and Greater St. James Missionary Baptist Church of Mims, each of which would go on to establish their own church buildings.

Read More: 'Go out with dignity': 133-year-old First Presbyterian Church of Titusville to shut its doors

The first permanent minister at LaGrange was William Chaudoin, an ordained Baptist who began serving the church in 1871. The nature of his early pastoral duties remains unclear, as records suggest he did not relocate to LaGrange until 1880, and at least one source indicates he was still living in Jacksonville that same year. Regardless, Chaudoin served the LaGrange congregation until his death in 1904. In addition to his church duties, Chaudoin kept busy serving as trustee of Stetson University—for which Stetson’s Chaudoin Hall bears his name—and spent nearly two decades as president of the Florida Baptist Convention. His leadership during that time, which helped double the number of Baptist churches across the state, earned him the popular epithet “father of the Florida Baptist Convention.”

Read More: W.N. Chaudoin | Florida Baptist Historical Society

The adjoining cemetery interred many of Florida’s pioneering families, including Henry Titus, the founding namesake of Titusville, and the Mims family. Also buried in the cemetery are civil rights activists Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore, who were killed when their home in Mims was firebombed on Christmas night in 1951.

*Tombstones for the Mims family (left) and Henry Titus (right) at the LaGrange Cemetery. The Mims family is the namesake of present day Mims, Florida and Henry Titus is the founder of Titusville.*

*A historic marker placed by the Brevard County Historical Commission and the Florida Department of State marking the cemetery as A Florida Heritage Site.*

So, is LaGrange Community Church “the first organized Protestant Church on the East Coast of Florida between New Smyrna and Key West?” Technically, yes—but it’s a strangely narrow claim to fame. It’s true that, as an organized Christian congregation, LaGrange is beaten out along that corridor by the Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea—a Catholic parish in Key West (explaining the emphasis on “Protestant” in LaGrange’s historical designation).

*The historic marker placed by the Philip Perry Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1941 commemorates the "Site of the first church erected between New Smyrna and Key West..."*

However, while the Key West Basilica was established in 1851 to serve Catholic families from the nearby military installation, its original building burned to the ground in 1901 and was rebuilt in 1904. In contrast, LaGrange’s current building, completed in 1872, remains intact.

In actuality, LaGrange Community Church appears to be not just the oldest East Coast church south of New Smyrna, but the oldest standing church in Central and South Florida—across both coasts—with no competition until Palatka. That’s a legacy Brevard Christians can proudly claim.

— Christians of Brevard is a multi-church initiative that seeks to amplify the voices of local churches and ministries for the purpose of encouraging the local body of Christ and Advancing the Kingdom of God. Join our Facebook community @ChristiansOfBrevard.

For Information: Contact David Ferguson, president of the LaGrange Church & Cemetery Association, at 321-269-9222 (N.B. Funeral Home), for inquiry's and weddings.

Editors Note: Church buildings older than Lagrange Community Church in Florida include the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine, complete in 1797, Old Christ Church in Pensacola, complete in 1832, Trinity Parish Episcopal in St. Augustine, completed in 1834, Trinity Episcopal Church in Apalachicola, completed in 1838, Moss Hill Church in Chipley, completed in 1857, and St. Mark’s Episcopal in Palatka, completed in 1854.

Learn More about LaGrange Community Church:

LaGrange Church - Titusville, Florida History

The LaGrange Church is the oldest church formed between New Smyrna Beach and Key West. The Association has restored the church and provides a place for community activities, weddings, and historical and genealogical research.