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First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill

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First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill, was organized in the 1840's when African American members of the First Baptist Church decided to start their own separate church under the leadership of Pastor Nelson Merry. The first meeting house, erected in 1849, was located on Pearl Street. The membership was made up of both slaves and free men and women of color. In about 1872 the congregation purchased property on North Spruce Street between Union and Cedar (Charlotte) Streets. North Spruce is now 8th Ave. North. In the 1890's the church building burned, and the pictured building was erected about 1899. In the 1960's the church played a large role as headquarters for Nashville's struggle for civil rights. On March 5, 1972, Reverend Kelly Miller Smith led the 600 member congregation about a block from the historic building to their new church home at 900 James Robertson Parkway. The old church building has been demolished. 3 x 5 in.
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U.S. and international copyright laws protect this digital content, which is provided for educational purposes only and may not be downloaded, reproduced, or distributed for any other purpose without written permission. Please contact: Metro Nashville Archives, 615 Church Street, Nashville, Tennessee, 37219. Telephone (615) 862-5880.
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Nashville Public Library

Record Harvested From

Digital Library of Tennessee

Keywords

  1. Architecture
  2. Capitol Hill
  3. Church Buildings
  4. First Baptist Church, Capitol Hill
  5. Nashville (Tenn.)

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