The First African Missionary Baptist Church in

Bainbridge, Georgia Bainbridge is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, Decatur County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. The city is the county seat of Decatur County. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,468. Hi ...

, is a

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

-style church built during 1904–1909. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 2002. It is a brick church. It was designed by Thomas H. Bynes, a member of the congregation who was a graduate of

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

, and is unusual as an "outstanding example of African-American church architecture in Georgia at the beginning of the 20th century", at a time when most churches founded and built by blacks were usually "plain, one-room frame structures, rectangular in shape with gable roofs" with "little or no ornamentation or architectural detailing." The interior has 12 curved rows of pews arranged in a semi-circle. with

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state) Romanesque Revival church buildings in Georgia (U.S. state) Churches completed in 1904 National Register of Historic Places in Decatur County, Georgia Baptist churches in Georgia (U.S. state) {{GeorgiaUS-NRHP-stub