The Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) is a historic

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

at 810 Sophia Street in downtown

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an independent city located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,982. The Bureau of Economic Analysis of the United States Department of Commerce combines the city of Fredericksburg wi ...

. The church is a two-story brick building with predominantly Classical Revival styling, modeled to some degree after the

Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg is a historic Presbyterian church located southwest of Princess Anne and George Streets in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was built in 1833, and restored in 1866 after being badly damaged during the American C ...

, 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 The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, 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. The church 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 2015.

References

External links

Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) website
* Fredericksburg Baptist Church website 19th-century Baptist churches in the United States Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Presbyterian churches in Virginia Churches completed in 1890 Churches in Fredericksburg, Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Fredericksburg, Virginia 1804 establishments in Virginia {{Virginia-church-stub