We are the Eastern District Association of Primitive Baptists and consist of thirty-six churches located throughout Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Kentucky and Ohio.

Originally organized in 1835 as the Mulberry Gap Association of United Baptists, the Eastern District Association was organized in 1848 with the first meeting being held at Blackwater Lick (Big Door). At the time of this first meeting, the Association consisted of only six churches: Blackwater, TN (Willis), Blackwater Lick (Big Door), Sulphur Springs, Zion (Burke’s Union), Hickory Flat, and Cedar Fork. Four of these churches are still active within the Association today. There are no records available during 1850-1880 and we know that no meetings were held during the Civil War. The Association was divided in 1898 with the Eastern District in Virginia and the Southwestern District in Tennessee. The two associations were reunited again in 1906 and are still together present day.