{"nrhp_refnum":"02000061","name":"Second Baptist Church","other_names":["Eri-1769-3","Zion Baptist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"315 Decatur St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.45330299700004,"lon":-82.71420955699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-05-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Social History","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick Baptist church at 315 Decatur Street in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1929 on the site of an 1849 church for an African-American congregation, with a ca. 1920 parsonage and a 1930 garage.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant under Criterion A for its role in African-American ethnic heritage, social history and religion in Sandusky. The congregation dates to 1849 and has roots in the Underground Railroad. It remained an important and prominent part of the city's Black community through the early twentieth century, including its 1949 centennial.","narrative":"Second Baptist Church at 315 Decatur Street in Sandusky serves an African-American congregation that began in 1849. The present one-story church was built in 1929 on the original site, reportedly incorporating part of the mid-nineteenth-century building. It is clad in stretcher-bond brick over a wood frame, with a limestone foundation, a square bell tower with a battlement, Tudor-arched doorways and stained glass windows dedicated to church members. Inside, the sanctuary has gold-leaf pilaster capitals and two murals. The property also includes a ca. 1920 American foursquare parsonage and a 1930 concrete block garage. The congregation was originally known as Zion Baptist, later as First Regular Anti-Slavery Baptist Church, and took the name Second Baptist in 1920. Its roots lie in Sandusky's Underground Railroad activity. The church is significant for its long role in the city's Black community, including a large centennial celebration in 1949 that drew clergy from across Ohio.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1920-1951","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival; Tudor Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The church and parsonage remain in religious use as listed in the current functions; the former parsonage is currently a rental property. The sanctuary was remodeled in the 1970s.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:06.819342-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/02000061.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000061/fa24df7e27-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000061/fa24df7e27-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Baptist_Church_in_Sandusky.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Second_Baptist_Church_in_Sandusky.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988172","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q137769953"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/second-baptist-church-02000061/"}