{"nrhp_refnum":"01001535","name":"First African Missionary Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"515 Webster St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Bainbridge","county":"Decatur County","state":"GA","lat":30.904367948000072,"lon":-84.57453866999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-01-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick Romanesque Revival African-American church at 515 Webster Street in Bainbridge, Decatur County, in southwest Georgia. Construction began in 1904 and was completed in 1909.","why_significant":"It is presented as an outstanding example of early 20th-century African-American church architecture in Georgia. Its brick construction, size and sophisticated design set it apart from the plain frame churches typical of the period. It also served as a social, charitable and civic center for Bainbridge's African-American community.","narrative":"Built between 1904 and 1909 on Webster Street in Bainbridge, this brick church is a large Romanesque Revival building with two entrance towers of different heights, pyramidal roofs, stained-glass windows and Gothic lancet openings. Inside, an auditorium plan centers on a pulpit, and a vaulted ceiling is covered in diagonally set beaded boards. Thomas H. Bynes, a deacon and Tuskegee Institute graduate, is believed to have designed it, and congregation members Eugene and Starling Smith did the building work. The congregation formed after Emancipation when Black members left the white First Baptist Church. The church is notable for its architecture, which contrasts with the small frame churches commonly built by Black congregations then, and for its role as a center of social, charitable and civic life. It hosted the General Missionary Baptists Convention of Georgia in 1909 and 1959. A 1959 annex added an education building and social hall.","period_of_significance":"1904-1951","architect_builder":"Bynes, Thomas H. (architect)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Romanesque Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a religious and social center for the African-American community in Bainbridge; the form says it has sustained few alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:42.726344-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/01001535.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001535/f75a620521-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01001535/f75a620521-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Michael Rivera","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_African_Missionary_Baptist_Church_(SW_corner),_Bainbridge.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Michael Rivera</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_African_Missionary_Baptist_Church_(SW_corner),_Bainbridge.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"87001907","name":"Bainbridge Residential Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/bainbridge-residential-historic-district-87001907/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207732","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_African_Missionary_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q29094327"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/decatur-county/first-african-missionary-baptist-church-01001535/"}