Historical Highway Markers

The African Church of Manchester

SA-127

The African Church of Manchester, later known as First Baptist Church of South Richmond, originated ca. 1821 when a group of free African Americans began meeting for worship in a private home near here. The congregation acquired a meetinghouse just south of here in 1823. Led by a white pastor, as required by Virginia law after 1832, they completed construction of their first sanctuary on this site in 1858. The Rev. Richard Wells was the church’s first African American pastor after the Civil War. Under the leadership of Dr. Anthony Binga, pastor for nearly 50 years, the rapidly growing congregation dedicated a new church here in 1881 and relocated to 15th and Decatur Streets in 1892.

Department of Historic Resources, 2021

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References/Bibliographic Citation:

Dr. Laverne Byrd Smith, Traveling On: First Baptist, South Richmond Today and First Fifty Years, 1821-1871 (Vol. 1 of Comprehensive History of First Baptist Church, South Richmond, 1821-1993 (Richmond: The History Committee of the First Baptist Church of South Richmond, 1993). Dr. Laverne Byrd Smith, Traveling On: First Baptist, South Richmond, The 133-Year Journey After the Civil War (1865-1998), vol. 2 (Richmond: Northlight Publishing, 1999). Dr. Laverne Byrd Smith, A Historical Chronology (1821-1992): Preview of the Comprehensive History of First Baptist Church, South Richmond (Richmond, History Committee of the First Baptist Church of South Richmond, 1992). Richmond Planet, 23 Aug. 1890, 10 May 1919, 1 May 1920, 7 May 1921, 13 May 1922. Richmond Dispatch, 27 July 1892. Negro Baptist Churches in Richmond (Richmond: Historical Records Survey of Virginia, 1940), 22-24. John Kneebone, "Binga, Anthony, Jr. (1843–1919)" Encyclopedia Virginia. Virginia Humanities, (12 Feb. 2021).