{"nrhp_refnum":"100004299","name":"First African Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"405 Telfair St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Dublin","county":"Laurens County","state":"GA","lat":32.535457000000065,"lon":-82.90710199999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2019-08-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black","Ethnic Heritage"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic Revival brick church at 901 5th Avenue, built in 1915 by the congregation of First African Baptist Church. The document describes a Columbus, Muscogee County survey form, although the listing metadata places it in Dublin, Laurens County.","why_significant":"The form cites architectural and religious significance at the local level. The church is a simple example of Gothic architecture that reflects early 20th century trends in the black community. The congregation, an offspring of the First Baptist Church, is described as the oldest black congregation in Columbus.","narrative":"This brick church at 901 5th Avenue was built in 1915 for a Baptist congregation at a cost of $75,000, after the members had worshipped in three earlier sanctuaries. The building is Gothic Revival in style, with a rectangular plan, an apse at the rear, and a gable roof. Two square towers of unequal height, three and four stories, flank a porch with three recessed entrances. Pointed-arch openings, stained glass windows, crenelated parapets and corbelled brick corners simulating quoins provide its limited ornament. A classroom wing was added to the north around 1950. The congregation formed in the early 1840s as an outgrowth of the city's First Baptist Church and was first called The African Baptist Church. The survey form describes it as the oldest black congregation in the city and sees the building as reflecting early twentieth century architectural trends within the black community. It still serves as a church.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Current use is as a church; a c. 1950 classroom wing was added to the north. The grounds are described as in good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:44.434792-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001165.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"02001293","name":"Stubbs Park-Stonewall Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/stubbs-park-stonewall-street-historic-district-02001293/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":null,"wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/laurens-county/first-african-baptist-church-100004299/"}