Church in Georgia, United States
| Second African Baptist Church | |
|---|---|
| Second Colored Church (formerly) | |
 The building in 2022 | |
| Location | 123 Houston Street Greene Square Savannah, Georgia |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Baptist |
| Website | www.secondafrican.org |
| History | |
| Founded | December 26, 1802 (222 years ago) (1802-12-26) |
| Architecture | |
| Years built | 1926 (99 years ago) (1926) |
| Administration | |
| Division | National Baptist Convention, U. S. A. Inc. |
| Subdivision | General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc. |
| Second African Baptist Church | |
| U.S. Historic district Contributing property | |
| Part of | Savannah Historic District (ID66000277) |
| Added to NRHP | November 13, 1966 |
Second African Baptist Church is a church in Savannah, Georgia, United States. Located in the northwestern trust/civic block of Greene Square, at 123 Houston Street, the church was founded on December 26, 1802, twenty-five years after the city's First African Baptist Church, as the First Colored Church. Its first pastor was Rev. Henry Cunningham (1759–1842), who served from 1802 to 1833. The church building was constructed in 1926.
In 1823, the First Colored Church and Second Colored Church were renamed First African Baptist Church and Second African Baptist Church.
In 1864, United States Army general William Tecumseh Sherman issued Special Field Orders No. 15 just outside Savannah. A short time later, general Rufus Saxton publicly spoke to members of this church on the provisions of Sherman's offer, which became known as "forty acres and a mule." Secretary of War Edwin Stanton and Sherman were guests in the church following the surrender of Savannah on December 21, 1864.
Just under a century later, in 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" sermon here, an address he repeated in Washington, D.C., later in the year.
Affiliations
The church is affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. (the second-largest Baptist organization in the world, after the Southern Baptist Convention), and the General Missionary Baptist Convention of Georgia, Inc.
See also
References
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Second African Baptist Church | Visit Savannah". visitsavannah.com. September 19, 2023. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Second African Baptist Church (Savannah, Ga.) records". archives.nypl.org. Retrieved October 8, 2024.
- "Historic Second African Baptist Church" – The Savannah Tribune
External links
- "Second African Baptist Church, official website
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
|---|---|
| Topics | |
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| Related | |
- 19th-century Baptist churches in the United States
- Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
- Baptist churches in Georgia (U.S. state)
- African-American history in Savannah, Georgia
- Churches in Savannah, Georgia
- Historic district contributing properties in Georgia (U.S. state)
- African-American churches in Georgia (U.S. state)
- First African Baptist churches
- Franklin Square (Savannah, Georgia) buildings
- Savannah Historic District
- Buildings and structures completed in 1926
- 1802 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)