Wollongong was a small town with less than 500 residents when Mr John Morgan came to the area in 1839 with the object of establishing a Baptist Church. With the backing of the Bathurst Street Church (the first in the colony) in Sydney, Mr Morgan successfully gathered a congregation which grew to 60 or so people. Not all were Baptists, some being Free Presbyterians and Congregationalists.
At some time before November, 1840, when the Bathurst Street Church appointed three of its members as Trustees this small congregation secured land on the eastern side of Kembla Street between market and Smith Streets, and erected a wooden chapel which seated up to sixty (60) people. This was only the second Baptist building in NSW and one of the very first churches in the Illawarra.
In 1841 the Rev Samuel Hewlett replaced Mr Morgan as Pastor, and with support from the parent Church continued to lead the congregation until 1846 when Mr Hewlett was appointed minister of the newly formed Baptist Church in Hobart.
Baptist leadership languished at that time, however it seems that the Free Presbyterians and the Congregationalists were allowed to use the building.
By the mid-fifties the building was no longer needed as both the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches had erected substantial buildings nearby. The property was sold and for many years Baptist work in the Illawarra came to an end. It was not until 1908 when a lasting church was established in Wollongong.