First African Baptist Church (Lexington, Kentucky)
First African Baptist Church is a Baptist church at 264-272 E. Short Street in Lexington, Kentucky. The congregation was founded c. 1790 by Peter Durrett and his wife, slaves who came to Kentucky with their master, Rev. Joseph Craig, in 1781 with "The Travelling Church" of Baptists from Spotsylvania, Virginia.
First African Baptist Church | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Front of the church's former building | |
| Location | 264-272 E. Short St., Lexington, Kentucky |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°2′38.1″N 84°29′34.1″W |
| Area | 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) |
| Built | 1856 |
| Architectural style | Italianate, Collegiate Tudor |
| NRHP reference No. | 86000854 |
| Added to NRHP | April 24, 1986 |
First African Baptist of Lexington is the oldest black Baptist church in Kentucky and the third oldest in the United States; it is the oldest black congregation west of the Allegheny Mountains. In 1850 under its second pastor, it had more than 1,800 members, the largest congregation of any in the state. The nineteenth-century Italianate church was constructed in 1856; by 1861 the congregation at this building numbered 2,223 members. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. Today the first African Baptist congregation worships at a newer church at 635 Price Road.