Lovely Mount Baptist Church (First Baptist Church)

K-330

On 13 Nov. 1869, the Rev. Capt. Charles S. Schaeffer of the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands met with the people of Lovely Mount (later Radford) and organized the Lovely Mount Baptist Church. In 1898, the congregation purchased the Lutheran church that stood at this location on Fairfax Street, and changed its name to the First Baptist Church. The first church of the Baptist denomination in Radford, Lovely Mount/First Baptist Church served the African American community for more than 60 years until Radford College purchased it in 1961 and demolished it to expand Peters Hall.

Department of Historic Resources, 2010

See a problem? Report it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

DHR could use your help! We don't have a recent image of this marker. If you have one that you'd like to submit for inclusion on this site, please send it to HighwayMarkers@dhr.virginia.gov.

References/Bibliographic Citation:

Harrison, Charles H. The Story of a Consecrated Life: Commemorative of Rev. Charles S. Schaeffer, Brevet-Captain U.S.V. (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1900) “The City of Radford also has another First Baptist Church, located on the corner of Third Avenue and Downey Streets. This Baptist church was founded in 1886, 17 years after the Lovely Mount Baptist Church.” Church history provided by Pastor Dr. Paul Lane