First African Baptist Church

First African Baptist Church is a Pennsylvania historical marker in Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, dedicated 2017.

6700 Lansdowne Ave., Philadelphia

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Founded in 1809, it is one of the first black Baptist churches in America and the oldest in Pa. In 1832, two members, John and Samuel Bivins, sold themselves into slavery to free an enslaved man, James Burroughs, to serve as pastor. After a year, Burroughs paid the slaveowner and the Bivinses were freed. F.A.B members helped found Downingtown Industrial School and many Philadelphia-area churches. Booker T. Washington spoke at the church centennial.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1777 · A plan of the city and environs of Philadelphia COLLBN 011-04-044 (Leiden University Libraries)
1797 · New Jersey (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1818 · New Jersey (1818) (Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1826 · Philadelphia And Adjacent Country (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering the location of First African Baptist Church, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Armees Americaine et Britannique en 1776 et 1777 dans le Maryland, 1807, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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Marker data: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission via data.pa.gov

First African Baptist Church

Historical maps covering this location

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