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EXHIBIT 31.1 -- CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-14(a) FOR ANNUAL REPORT OF
FORM 10-K BY PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Norman L. Lowery, certify that:

1) I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K, as amended by Amendment No.
1 thereto, of First Financial Corporation;

2) Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements
made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3) Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the
financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as
of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4) The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and l5d--15(e)) and internal controls over
financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and l5d--15(f))
for the registrant and have:

     (a)  designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such
          disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our
          supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the
          registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to
          us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in
          which this annual report is being prepared;

     (b)  designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused
          such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
          our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the
          reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial
          statements for external purpose in accordance with generally accepted
          accounting principles;

     (c)  evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls
          and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the
          effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end
          of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     (d)  disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's
          most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's fourth fiscal quarter in
          the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is
          reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal
          control over financial reporting; and

5) The registrant's other certifying officer(s) and I have disclosed, based on
our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the
registrant's auditors and the audit committee of registrant's board of directors
(or persons performing the equivalent functions)

     (a)  all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or
          operation of internal control over financial reporting which are
          reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to
          record, process, summarize and report financial information; and

     (b)  any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other
          employees who have a significant role in the registrant's internal
          controls over financial reporting.

Date: April 26, 2005

Norman L. Lowery, Signed
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Norman L. Lowery
Vice Chairman and CEO

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