Last updated: December 19, 2023
Place
First Baptist Church of Georgetown
NPS / Claire Hassler
Quick Facts
Location:
2624 Dumbarton Street NW
Significance:
First Baptist Church in Georgetown
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Amenities
1 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits
Reverend Sandy Alexander came to Georgetown to start a Baptist Church in 1856 after being freed from enslavement. Prior to this first organization, another man named Collins Williams held religious meetings in various private homes along 27th Street. On Reverend Alexander’s arrival in Georgetown, he found only two Baptists but quickly found converts and with a donation of land from Collins Williams, the congregation built a small frame structure and called it “The Ark” at 29th and O Streets.
The church quickly outgrew it’s first building and in 1882 the present site was selected. Work on the church foundation was done at night by male members of the congregation while the women cooked hot dinners. Unfortunately, the work for the foundation exceeded the money they had raised for construction and the church sat incomplete for some time until Reverend Alexander took responsibility for seeing it completed and took out a loan. When the first payment for the loan for the church was paid, the receipt was written out to "First African Baptist Church." One of the Trustees refused the receipt and demanded it be written out to "First Baptist Church." Trustee William Brown didn't want to see the congregation robbed of the honor of being the first church of the Baptist faith in Georgetown.
The church continues to serve the Georgetown community and is still an active church.
The church quickly outgrew it’s first building and in 1882 the present site was selected. Work on the church foundation was done at night by male members of the congregation while the women cooked hot dinners. Unfortunately, the work for the foundation exceeded the money they had raised for construction and the church sat incomplete for some time until Reverend Alexander took responsibility for seeing it completed and took out a loan. When the first payment for the loan for the church was paid, the receipt was written out to "First African Baptist Church." One of the Trustees refused the receipt and demanded it be written out to "First Baptist Church." Trustee William Brown didn't want to see the congregation robbed of the honor of being the first church of the Baptist faith in Georgetown.
The church continues to serve the Georgetown community and is still an active church.