About this property
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is a historic Baptist church at 500 Clay St in Downtown Houston, Texas. It was historically a part of the Fourth Ward. As of 2012 it was the only remaining piece of the original Fourth Ward east of Interstate 45. Former slaves organized Houston's first African-American Baptist congregation in January 1866. They initially held services outdoors in the "Brush Arbor" along Buffalo Bayou. The congregation built its first sanctuary in 1867 at the corner of Bagby and Rusk. It was built in 1875 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Jack Yates once served as the pastor of this church. Antioch Baptist Church's location in a long-established African-American neighborhood faced the encroachment of the growing downtown business district by the 1950s. Some of the buildings going up nearby after mid-century include the Allen Center complex and the Hyatt Regency hotel. The church property is a mere two blocks from the freeway and from Sam Houston Park. As of 2003 the church has a "Jesus Saves" sign. Rod Davis of the San Antonio Express-News said that the presence of the sign, which "still makes a footnote to the downtown skyscrapers," was "evidence that the oldest African American Baptist church (1875) in the city thrives as well as it did when the Rev. Jack Yates, a former slave, served as its first pastor." According to the church, the original pews, made by hand, are still used. In 2019 it became a UNESCO Slave Route Project site.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Antioch Missionary Baptist Church listed on the National Register?
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1976.
What type of historic resource is Antioch Missionary Baptist Church?
Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Antioch Missionary Baptist Church?
The period of significance for Antioch Missionary Baptist Church is recorded as the colonial era.
Can I research the history near Antioch Missionary Baptist Church?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Antioch Missionary Baptist Church will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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