Philadelphia has thousands of places that matter, including First African Baptist Church, founded in 1809. The First African Baptist Church is a church located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first African American Baptist congregation in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and the fifth African American congregation to be founded in Philadelphia.
First African Baptist Church Historical Marker
Origins and Early Years
The church was founded on June 19th, 1809 by freed slaves from Virginia. It was founded by 13 former congregants of the primarily white First Baptist Church of Philadelphia whom were ex-slaves from the eastern shore of Virginia. The split was cordial with the Church being immediately recognized by the Philadelphia Baptist Association. As one of the first Black Baptist churches in America, its establishment marked a significant moment in the religious and social history of the African American community in Philadelphia.
This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion. A significant historical year for this entry is 1809.
Later two members sold themselves into slavery to free a slave to serve as pastor.
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First African Baptist Church Marker Inscription: Founded 1809 as one of the first Black Baptist churches in America. Later two members sold themselves into slavery to free a slave to serve as pastor. Erected 1906, this building is located at a later site of the congregation. Erected 1991 by Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
The Church was an important part of the Black community at this time.
Relocation and Architectural Significance
Membership again outgrew their building and in 1902 the congregation purchased a lot at 16th & Christian Streets from the estate of brick manufacturer, James J. Milnamow for $16,500 (approximately $560,000 in 2022 dollars). This street was lined with upper middle class African American homes in an area now known as the Christian Street Black Doctors’ Row Historic District.
The building at the southwest corner of Christian and 16th Streets was constructed in 1906, and is significant as one of the oldest purpose‐built African American houses of worship in Philadelphia, as well as the only extant building representing the oldest African Baptist congregation-First African Baptist.
The building at 1600‐06 Christian Street is the longest home of the congregation, who has worshiped in this space for over 100 years.
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The congregants hired architecture firm Watson & Huckel in 1904 and the church was finished construction by 1906.
Challenges and Preservation Efforts
The future of the 105-year-old First African Baptist Church at 16th and Christian-designed by Watson and Huckel-has been uncertain since the City’s Department of License and Inspections cited the building for being imminently dangerous after the east wall began to collapse in June.
Rev. Griffith believes that the only recourse for the congregation is to sell the building for $3.2 million to a developer who will demolish the building and redevelop the lot.
The nomination of First African Baptist Church will be considered by the Philadelphia Historical Commission Committee on Historic Designation on Sept. 16.
First African Baptist Church, 16th & Christian, with historical marker in the foreground. Built in 1906.
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Recent Developments
In 2017 The First African Baptist Church officially opened at its new location at 67th & Lansdowne Ave.
Historical Context and Significance
Philadelphia has thousands of places that matter, including First African Baptist Church, founded in 1809.
The First African Baptist Church is a church located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the first African American Baptist congregation in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, and the fifth African American congregation to be founded in Philadelphia (after the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, and Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, both in 1794; Zoar Methodist Episcopal Church, 1796; and First African Presbyterian Church, 1807).
Discovery of Remains from First Baptist Church of Philadelphia
When construction of a new apartment building at 218 Arch St. began in late 2016, workers digging the foundation began uncovering loose skeletal remains. As construction continued into 2017, more and more remains were found until PMC Property Group, the developer, hired a professional archaeology firm to remove buried remains in the footprint of the new building.
Philadelphia Orphans Court gave permission for a team at Rutgers University-Camden to study and analyze these colonial-era remains. Now, advocates are calling for new policies dealing with development on old burial grounds in the city. They are also awaiting the news of when nearly 500 remains exhumed during the construction of the new apartment building will be reburied.
Concerns over the handling of the First Baptist remains came at a time of broader scrutiny over how institutions treat human remains.
Here is a timeline of First Baptist Church and the discovery of the remains:
1698: First Baptist Church of Philadelphia was established near Second and Chestnut, just 16 years after William Penn established Philadelphia, making it one of the city’s oldest churches.
1707: First Baptist moves to the site of a former Quaker meeting house on LaGrange Place, a small street, south of Second and Arch. The burial ground is behind the church, along the 200 block of Arch.
1793: Yellow Fever Epidemic kills 10 percent of the city’s population. The city suffered additional yellow fever epidemics in 1797, 1798, and 1799.
1809: 13 Black American members of First Baptist petition to leave the church to form the First African Baptist Church of Philadelphia. It is believed that some Black members remained at First Baptist and may have been buried in the 2nd St. cemetery.
1855-1856: First Baptist grows in population and moves to Broad & Arch streets in 1855. Dedication at new church is in 1856.
December 1859: First Baptist received permission from city’s Board of Health to relocate buried bodies from 2nd & Arch to Mount Moriah in Southwest Philadelphia.
1860: The church hired a company to move burials from its cemetery between January through March, in the dead of winter.
1860: The P. Herst & Son Felt Hat Manufactory builds two buildings atop the First Baptist property.
1874: P. Herst builds four more buildings at the site: a dye and boiler house, a storehouse, a building for drying and a building for stiffening and finishing hats.
1874-1875: Little Boys Court (or Way), a cobblestone lane, was created as an extension of Mickles Court.
1900: First Baptist moves again to a new church to 17th & Sansom Streets.
1962-1965: All the industrial buildings at 2nd and Arch site are demolished and a ground parking lot covers the site.
2016: In September-October, a small group of scattered bones are unearthed when workers dig a foundation for the new PMC Property Group 10-story apartment building. The Inquirer reports on the bones Nov. 4.
February 2017: More bones are uncovered at construction site.
March 2017: A group of volunteer scientists begin a rushed “salvage excavation,” recovering human remains while bulldozers dig into earth around them.
June 2017: Anonymous worker shows The Inquirer a photo of a human skull laying on the ground. Later, that month, after a second tip of scattered remains going to a landfill, PMC Property Group hires AECOM, a construction services archaeological firm to begin a professional removal of remain.
July-September 2017: AECOM conducts formal excavation.
July 2017: PMC Property Group formally petitions in Orphans’ Court for legal permission to remove human remains.
August 2017: Orphans Court Judge Matthew Carrafiello issues decree authorizing removal of remains, transfer to Rutgers-Camden for scientific study. Says remains should be reburied by August 2020.
October 2017: AECOM files formal report of its excavation; reporting that AECOM recovered about remains of about 328 people, completed tally of remains found in March and June to a total of 407 remains. Loose bones indicate total of 491 remains of distinct individuals.
July 2018: Judge Carrafiello issues decree requiring PMC Property Group to provide a detailed plan for rebury the remains, The court extends deadline to no later than Sept. 30, 2023.
January 2019: Philadelphia Archaeological Forum files notice with the court that the PMC Property Group did not comply with the deadline for filing firm arrangements with Mount Moriah cemetery
June 2023: PMC, files request to the court for a final decree and permission to rebury the remains by Sept. 30, 2023.
July 2023: The PAF, the forum files a court complaint that Rutgers had not complied with court’s June 9, 2018 decree on how to treat the remains by sending samples to other universities and labs without express permission from the court.
Aug. 23, 2023: Judge denies PMC Property Group permission to rebury remains, noting the apartment developer did not submit signed agreements with the cemetery. He also said PMC and Rutgers did not follow his 2018 order in how to handle the remains.
Oct. 18, 2023: PMC Property Group files new court document seeking final decree to rebury the remains. This time, the filing includes signed documents from Mount Moriah Cemetery and the current First Baptist Church that they approve the plans. Includes letter from Mount Moriah that there is space set aside for the reburial at the cemetery.
Nov. 30, 2023: Judge issues final decree, permitting the reburial of the remains. Tells PMC it must issue public notices of reburial dates.
Doug Mooney, president of the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum, is photographed on on Little Boys Court street on 218 Arch St. where he says there are still people buried beneath the narrow street - probably one of few original cobblestone lanes in the city.
Doug Mooney on Little Boys Court
