{"nrhp_refnum":"03001423","name":"Alfred Street Baptist Church","other_names":["African Baptist Church","First Colored Baptist Church","Dhr#100-5-15-0001"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"313 S. Alfred St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alexandria (Independent City)","county":"Alexandria","state":"VA","lat":38.80460758900006,"lon":-77.04966077399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-01-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick church at 313 South Alfred Street (southwest corner of Duke and South Columbus streets) in Alexandria, Virginia, built in 1855 on a site the congregation has held since 1818. The 1880s added a new facade, vestibule and organ chamber.","why_significant":"It is the oldest African American congregation in Alexandria and one of the oldest in the Washington area. Its education branch, organized by 1820, offered religious and secular learning to Black children and adults, and its library was among the first open to African Americans. The building is also one of two surviving ante-bellum Black churches in the city, and its 1880s facade reflects Romanesque Revival influence.","narrative":"Alfred Street Baptist Church is a brick church at 313 South Alfred Street in Alexandria, Virginia, built in 1855 for a congregation that traces its origins to 1803. Members leased the site in 1818, and the congregation is the oldest African American one in the city. Alterations in the 1880s added a basement, a vestibule, an organ chamber and a new east facade with Romanesque Revival details such as pilasters, corbelled niches and fleur-de-lis finials. In 1994 a new sanctuary was built beside it, and the historic building was kept with its exterior preserved. The church is important for its role in Black education and community life. Its school, organized by 1820, served children and adults despite restrictions on assembly, and its library was among the first open to African Americans. It helped found other Black congregations, served as a hospital during the Civil War, and sits in the Bottoms, Alexandria's oldest African American neighborhood.","period_of_significance":"1818-1953","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; vernacular, with an 1880s Romanesque Revival-style facade","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"In continuous religious use since 1855 apart from service as a Civil War hospital; a new sanctuary was added in 1994 and the historic church serves as an adjunct, with its exterior preserved and interior extensively altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.93302-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/6785/41678518/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03001423.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001423/ef300bf548-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001423/ef300bf548-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"APK","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Street_Baptist_Church_-_historic_building.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">APK</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Alfred_Street_Baptist_Church_-_historic_building.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000928","name":"Alexandria Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/alexandria-historic-district-66000928/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678518","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Street_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4723487"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/alexandria/alfred-street-baptist-church-03001423/"}