| Antioch Missionary Baptist Church | |
| Location: | 500 Clay St. Houston, TX |
| Built: | 1866 |
| Architect: | Richard Allen |
| Added: | December 22, 1976 |
| Area: | less than one acre |
| Refnum: | 76002038 |
| Designated Other1: | RTHL |
| Designated Other1 Date: | 1994 |
| Designated Other1 Number: | 10597 |
| Designated Other1 Num Position: | bottom |
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.[1] it was the only remaining piece of the original Fourth Ward east of Interstate 45.[2]
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.[3] [4] The congregation built its first sanctuary in 1867 at the corner of Bagby and Rusk.[5]
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.[6]
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.[5]
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."[1]
According to the church, the original pews, made by hand, are still used.[7]
In 2019 it became a UNESCO Slave Route Project site.[8]