Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) Explained

Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site)
Designated Other1:Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated Other1 Date:September 17, 2015[1]
Designated Other1 Number:111-0096
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Coordinates:38.3022°N -77.4572°W
Architecture:Classical Revival; Late Gothic Revival; Italian Renaissance Revival
Added:December 15, 2015
Area:less than one acre
Refnum:15000907

The Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) is a historic Baptist church at 801 Sophia Street in downtown Fredericksburg, Virginia. The church is a two-story brick building with predominantly Classical Revival styling, modeled to some degree after the Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg, with later alterations. The church was built in 1890 for a predominantly African-American congregation, whose origins lie in a mixed-race Baptist congregation founded in 1804. That congregation split about 1815, worshipping in a building at this site, and became known as the Shiloh Baptist Church with the construction of a new building here in the 1830s. In 1849 the large congregation again divided, with most of its white members leaving to form the Fredericksburg Baptist Church at Princess Anne and Amelia Streets. Services were discontinued during the American Civil War, and the existing building was damaged, in part due to abuse caused during military occupation of the city. It collapsed in 1886, and the present building was constructed in 1890 as its replacement. However, due to a schism in the congregation, two separate groups claimed the name "Shiloh Baptist", which was resolved by giving the one at this location the name "Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site)", which it still retains.[2]

The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. 2016-04-23.
  2. Web site: NRHP nomination for Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site). Virginia DHR. 2016-04-23.