Second Baptist Church is an historic church building located in Centerville, Iowa, United States. 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 ...

in 1999.

History

The congregation was organized in 1893 by African Americans. There were twelve people in the congregation when the church began. with The congregation grew in size and by 1902 they desired their own church building. They began fundraising and the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over tim ...

for the structure was laid in June of that year. The wood-framed structure was designed in the Gothic Revival style. Coal mining in the area began to decline in the 1920s and the congregation's membership peaked in the 1930s at 126 people. Opera singer

Simon Estes Simon Estes (born March 2, 1938) is an operatic bass-baritone of African-American descent who had a major international opera career beginning in the 1960s. He has sung at most of the world's major opera houses as well as in front of presiden ...

sang in the church choir in the 1940s. The congregation continued to use the church until the early 1990s. The building sat empty for a short time until efforts to preserve it began in 1996. The restoration project was completed in 2003 and it is now used for musical and other events.

References

{{NRHP in Appanoose County, Iowa Religious organizations established in 1893 Churches completed in 1902 African-American history of Iowa Gothic Revival church buildings in Iowa Buildings and structures in Appanoose County, Iowa Centerville, Iowa National Register of Historic Places in Appanoose County, Iowa Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Iowa Former Baptist church buildings in Iowa 1893 establishments in Iowa