Springfield Baptist Church (Augusta, Georgia)

Last updated

Springfield Baptist Church
Springfield Baptist Church 2.JPG
USA Georgia location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location112 12th St. (original) and 114 12th St. (increase), Augusta, Georgia
Coordinates 33°28′43″N81°58′18″W / 33.47861°N 81.97167°W / 33.47861; -81.97167
Built1801 (both)
ArchitectTodd, Albert Whitner (increase)
Architectural styleGothic (increase)
NRHP reference No. 82002461 [1]  (original)
90000979  (increase)
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 17, 1982
Boundary increaseJuly 5, 1990

Springfield Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Augusta, Georgia was built in 1801 [2] and is a significant historical building for its architecture, religious history, and African American heritage. [2] It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA.

Contents

It was built in the architectural style of a New England meetinghouse, which is rare in Georgia. It is the oldest church building extant in Augusta and is claimed to be one of the oldest Black congregations in the U.S. [2] The 1801, Springfield Baptist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond County, Georgia in 1982, and the boundary of the National Register of Historic Places-listed site was increased in 1990. [1]

History

Architecture

"The simple, two-story rectangular wooden building has two doors at the first floor topped by two arched windows and a smaller arched attic window in the gable of the street facade. The east and west sides of the church boast first and second-floor ranges of seven wooden 12/12 windows. The interior of the church has an assembly-hall plan consisting of a shallow vestibule on the north end and a long narrow meeting hall." [3]

In 1844, the Methodists built a new brick church at 736 Greene Street. [2] This old meeting house was rolled on logs to the corner of 12th St and Reynolds to be given to the Springfield Baptist congregation, one of the oldest black Baptist congregations in the nation. During the antebellum years, it had 1,000 members and was the largest congregation of any in the Georgia Baptist Association. Springfield Baptist hosted the 1866 Georgia State Freedmen's Conventions.

In 1897, the congregation built a new church on the site, in the Late Victorian Gothic style. The former building was moved to face Reynolds Street, and they continue to maintain it and use it for special events. [3]

Baptist congregation

The Baptist church congregation predates the building and was founded in 1787, [2] by Reverend Jesse Peters.[ citation needed ] The congregation claims continuous ties with Silver Bluff Baptist Church, founded 1774–1775 in South Carolina as one of the first black Baptist congregations in the nation. [4] For this reason, the historian Walter Brooks suggested it was the oldest black Baptist congregation. [5] The First Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia was organized in 1774 and also contends for this distinction.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First African Baptist Church (Savannah, Georgia)</span> Historic church in Georgia, United States

First African Baptist Church, located in Savannah, Georgia, claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded a congregation in 1773. Its claim of "first" is contested by the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Aiken County, South Carolina (1773), and the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, whose congregation officially organized in 1774.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Calvary Baptist Church (Ossining, New York)</span> Historic church in New York, United States

Calvary Baptist Church, originally St. Paul's Episcopal Church, is located on St. Paul's Place in Ossining, New York, United States. It is a stone building in the Gothic Revival architectural style, considered the best preserved early example of that style in Westchester County. It is also one of the few remaining Calvin Pollard buildings in the state. Built in the 1830s, it is the oldest house of worship in the village. In 1978 it and its rectory across the street were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Bluff Baptist Church</span> Historical place

The Silver Bluff Baptist Church was founded between 1774-1775 in Beech Island, South Carolina, by several enslaved African Americans who organized under elder David George.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Baptist Church (Detroit, Michigan)</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The former First Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church building located at 8601 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Built in 1909, it was designed by architect Guy J. Vinton in the Late Gothic Revival style. It is now the Peoples Community Church. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 3, 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Holderness Freewill Baptist Church–Holderness Historical Society Building</span> Historic church in New Hampshire, United States

The North Holderness Freewill Baptist Church–Holderness Historical Society Building is an historic church building in Holderness, New Hampshire. Built in 1860 for a Free Will Baptist congregation, it is a little-altered example of a rural vernacular church building. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The building was moved in 1994 from its original site on Owl Brook Road to U.S. Route 3 east of the center of Holderness by the Holderness Historic Society, who now own it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Free Will Baptist Church and Vestry</span> Historic church in New Hampshire, United States

The First Free Will Baptist Church are a historic Free Will Baptist Church complex in Ashland, New Hampshire. The complex consists of three buildings: the brick church building, which was built in 1834; the old vestry, a brick building standing near the street which was built c. 1835 as a school and converted to a vestry in 1878; and the new vestry, a wooden structure added in 1899 to join the two brick buildings together. The church, a fine vernacular Federal style building when it was built, had its interior extensively restyled in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, primarily as a good example of modest Victorian church architecture. It now houses the Ashland Community Church.

Prince Street Synagogue, in the Springfield/Belmont neighborhood, is the oldest synagogue building still standing in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusta Downtown Historic District</span> Historic district in Georgia, United States

Augusta Downtown Historic District is a historic district that encompasses most of Downtown Augusta, Georgia and its pre-Civil War area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church</span> Historic church in Michigan, United States

The Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church is a church located at 4461 Twenty-Eighth Street in Detroit, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1980 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The building now houses the Motor City Missionary Baptist Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Baptist Church of Lakeport</span> Historic church in New Hampshire, United States

United Baptist Church of Lakeport is a historic church at 35 Park Street in the village of Lakeport in Laconia, New Hampshire, United States. Built in 1891 after a fire destroyed an older church, it is an eclectic local example of Late Victorian architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freewill Baptist Church-Peoples Baptist Church-New Hope Church</span> Historic church in New Hampshire, United States

The Freewill Baptist Church—Peoples Baptist Church—New Hope Church is a historic structure built in 1868 located at 45 Pearl Street in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The building, a fine local example of Italianate ecclesiastical architecture, was once owned by an African-American congregation. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in September 2002, and the New Hampshire State Register of Historic Places in January 2002. Later home to the Portsmouth Pearl, a center of arts and culture, it has more recently hosted art exhibitions, theatrical productions, and event rentals. As of June 2021, the building is listed for sale at nearly $1.5 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grafton Congregational Church and Chapel</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

The Grafton Congregational Church, known locally as The Brick Church, is a historic church on Main Street in Grafton, Vermont. Built in 1833, it is a fine local example of vernacular Greek Revival and Gothic Revival religious architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. Grafton's current Congregationalist congregation now meets primarily in the "White Church" at 55 Main Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Plain Baptist Church</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

The Georgia Plain Baptist Church is a historic church in Georgia, Vermont. Built in 1877 for a congregation established in 1793, it is a well-preserved example of High Gothic Victorian architecture. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. The congregation is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches of Vermont and New Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Baptist Church</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

The Italian Baptist Church is a historic church at 10 North Brook Street in the city of Barre, Vermont. Built in 1906-08 largely with volunteer labor, it is a distinctive regionalized example of vernacular church architecture more typically found in northern Italy. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Baptist Church of Ossining</span> Historic church in New York, United States

The First Baptist Church of Ossining is located in the center of the village of Ossining, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Gothic Revival architectural style with a tall wooden steeple built in the 1870s, one of Ossining's most prominent landmarks. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Sixteen years later, in 1989, it was included as a contributing property to the Downtown Ossining Historic District when it was listed on the Register.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shiloh Baptist Church (Columbus, Ohio)</span> United States historic place

Shiloh Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church in King-Lincoln Bronzeville, Columbus, Ohio. One of the oldest black churches in the city, it has been active since the 1860s, and its 1920s building has been named a historic site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery</span> United States historic place

Bethlehem Primitive Baptist Church and Cemetery is a historic site in Quitman, Georgia. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The church congregation was organized in 1834 and the church building was built c. 1861. It is located on County Road 125.

Church Square is a city block in downtown Columbus, Georgia home to two churches: First Baptist Church of Columbus and St. Luke United Methodist Church. The block, located between 2nd and 3rd Avenues and 11th and 12th Streets, is significant because it is the only remaining square designated for church use by Edward Lloyd Thomas, who surveyed the area in 1828 and drew up the original city plan. The square was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 2, 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brookline Baptist Church</span> Historic church in Vermont, United States

Brookline Baptist Church is a historic former church building at 632 Grassy brook Road in Brookline, Vermont. It was built in 1836 for a congregation established in 1785, and served the congregation regularly until 1945. It is now used as a community function space. It is a locally distinctive example of vernacular Gothic Revival architecture, and it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form (FHR-8-300) #82002461". United States Department of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. June 17, 1982.
  3. 1 2 "Augusta Springfield Church", North Georgia, National Park Service Historic Itinerary, accessed 27 Sep 2010
  4. Albert J. Raboteau, Slave Religion: The "invisible Institution' in the Antebellum South, Oxford University Press, 2004, p.139, accessed 21 Jan 2009
  5. Walter H. Brooks, "The Priority of the Silver Bluff Church and Its Promoters", Journal of Negro History (April 1922)