Silver Bluff Baptist Church

Front: This church, one of the first black Baptist churches in America, grew out of regular worship services held as early as the 1750s at "Silver Bluff," the plantation of Indian trader George Galphin. At first a non-denominational congregation with both white and black members, it was formally organized as Silver Bluff Baptist Church in 1773 with Rev. David George as its first minister. Reverse: The church, dormant for a few years during the American Revolution, was revived in the 1780s by Rev. Jesse Peter. The congregation moved from its original site in 1815, again in the 1840s, and for the last time to the present site in 1866. A large frame sanctuary built in 1873 was covered in brick veneer in 1920; it was demolished and the present brick church was built in 1948.