7. - Virginia Department of Historic Resources

7. Description

Condition

3 excellent

-good

-fair

-deteriorated

-ruins

-unexposed

Check one

-unaltered

altered

Check one

L original site

-moved

date

N/ A

Describe the present and original (ifknown) physical appearance

SUtMARY DESCRIPTION

b c a t e d on East Bute Street a t the edge of Norfolk's downtown, the 1906 F i r s t Baptist

Church i s a massive, but sophisticated, m e s q u e Revival edifice daninated by a richly o m m t e d facade of rough-faced, pink granite ashlar and limestone trim. The principal element of the facade i s a t a l l , eight-level comer tower with a m l t i y l i c i t y of window types. Adding a lightness t o the othenvise ponderous canposition i s a huge, central round-arch window of stained glass. The facade would be symnetrical except that the flanking tower i s only half the height of i t s c q a n i o n . Behind the facade i s an exceptionally plain nave covered by a vast gable roof, the plairmess resulting f r m the f a c t that the nave was intended t o be hidden fran vim by neighboring buildings.

Unfortmately, the original context of the church has been l o s t w i t h the destruction of virtually a l l s u r r o u n ~c o n t a p r a r y buildings through urban renewal projects, so that the church n m stands virtually isolated. The church i s in a good s t a t e of preservation, retaining most of i t s original i n t e r i o r appointments.

F i r s t Baptist Church was d~z*~eci by Chattanooga x c h i t e c t Reuben Harrison Hunt: Its facade is coristructed of pink ?kw F.nzlanil eranite with I n d i a n a ' l + ~ s t m etr*.

and i s s t y l i s t i c a l l y sirxilar t o the facade of another of Hunt's works, the Court Street Baptist Churc5, 2rected in 1903 nearby Portmouth. Like the C d t Street church, the facade of F i r s t . 3 a p t i s t i s divided into three rriain sections. These con-. sist of a recessed center section flanked by t s m ~towers. On both churches, the towercare connected by an arcade.'

The east tower of the F i r s t Baptist Church serves as the main entrance and i s the nu& t a l l e r of the two. 1'5e tower has both flat-arch and romd-arch openings w i t h colored-glass panes. The tower's uppermost section has a row of four narrow windows on each face and i s covered by a pyramidal roof. The roof i s flanked by four small t u r r e t s . b d i a n a limestone i s used a s a trim t o accentuate the tower's various stages and openirgs. This use of lirnestone as trim i s followed throughout the facade. The f i r s t story of the center section is fronted by an arcade ccanposed of three round arches. The arches a r e supported by paired colonettes with carved floriated capitals. A large, rcnmd-arch window with stained glass daninates the center section. The facade's western tower, l i k e t h a t on the Court Street Baptist Church, i s squat and duplicates the three lower sections of the east tower. It i s topped by a pyramidal roof. Like the east tower, it has an entrance on the f i r s t story. The nave,mealc t o be blocked fran view by no-longer-extant neighboring buildirgs, i s severely plain. It i s executed in six-course-American-bond brick and i s covered by a very large gable

roof. Fenestration consists of paired rectangular openings on the lower story w i t h

paired square openings above, a l l f i l l e d w i t h stained glass. A small apse, with a projecting c h w e y stack, is found on the rear (north) elevztion. A 1961, functionals t y l e educational build* c m l e t e l y envelopes the rear elwacion. b e educational building i s a brick, two-story s t G c t u r e topped by a f l a t rwE.

(See Continuation Sheet

8. Significance

Period

Areas of S i g n i f i c a n c e c h e c k and justify below

-prehistoric -archeology-prehistoric -community planning -landscape a r c h i t e c t u r e z religion

-1400-1499 -archeology-historic

-1500-1599 -agriculture

-conservation -economics

-law

.

-literature

-science -sculpture

-1600-1699

-1700-1799

- 1800-1899

1900-

_X_ architecture -art -commerce -communications

-education

-military

-engineering

-music

explorationlsettlement -philosophy

-industry

-politicslgovernment

-social1

humanitarian -theater -transportation

-invention

1Lother (s ecif )

black RsEory

Specific dates 1906

Builder/&rchitect Reuben H. Hunt

Statement of Significance (in one paragraph)

STA-

OF SIGNIFIWJCE

Norfolk's F i r s t Baptist Church houses a worshipping ccnnnmity that arose out of the c i t y ' s f i r s t Baptist congregations t o nurture a strong sense of leadership and

identity f o r the black ccmmnity i n the antebellm period. B u i l t i n 1906 on the s i t e

of the original church of 1830, the monumental Rananesque Revival structure is amang the best representatives of i t s s t y l e in the s t a t e and was designed by t5e noted early 20th-century Tennessee architect Reuben H. Hunt, whose practice centered on Southern ecclesiastical buildings, most notably in Birmingham, Chattanooga, and Dallas. His

work included Court Street Baptist Church i n nearby Portsmouth. The building, with i t s

unusually large scale and imposix quality, r e f l e c t s the graving economic strength of

Norfolk's black c d t y by the end of the 19th century as well as the important position of black religious institutions in the urban l i f e of the south i n m r e recent tirnes.

HISMRICAL BACXCXDUND

The history of the congregation of F i r s t Baptist Church, Bute Street i n Norfolk, dates t o i t s organization in 1800 by David Biggs and Thomas Everidge of the Court Street Baptist Church i n Portsmouth. Made up of whites, free Negroes, and slaves, the Norfolk congregation by 1805 had grown considerably and had adapted the Borough Church-abandoned by Norfolk Arglicans with the disestablishment--as i t s worship place. With the black population of Norfolk estimated a t 45 percent a t the beginning of the 19th century, a substantial portion of the early membership of the church was black. By 1816, however, several white members of the congregation becane dissatisfied with the large nmbers of blacks i n t h e i r m i d s t and l e f t t o form the Cumberland Baptist Church. The original congregation continued t o occupy the Borough Church building. Although the congregation remained an integrated ccmmmity and was led by a white pastor, the F i r s t Baptist Church became known as a "colored" congregation. I n 1830 three f r e e black trustees paid $250 f o r the present Bute Street s i t e and erected a sanctuary there l a t e r known a s the 'Dld s a l t Box." I n 1839 sane Negro members l e f t t o form another congregation known as the Bank Street Church. From t h i s time on f o r the remainder of the 19th century, the sanctuary of the Fi-cst Baptist Church was k n m a s the Bute Street Church.

During the e n t i r e antebellm period, a l l black congregations were required t o have white pastors. Free blacks f i l l e d the posts of deacons, trustees, and clerks of the congregation, h m v e r , and the congregation had the r i g h t t o c a l l and dismiss pastors as w e l l as the responsibility f o r uaying t h e i r s a l a r i e s . This situation provided an important arena f o r training f r e e blacks f o r leadership positions. Leaders of the Bute Street congregation provided basic education t o i t s members i n addition t o theological and m r a l

(See Continuation Sheet #I)

9. Major Bibliographical References ,see

Sheet 113)

Bogger, Tommy L. "History of N o r f o l k ' s Blacks Is a Story of Determination," The (Norfolk)

. V i r g i n i a n - P i l o t and t h e Ledger-Star, S p e c i a l Supplement, 25 A p r i l 1982. "The S l a v e and F r e e Black Community i n Norfolk, 1790-1865." Ph.D. d i s s e r t a t i o n , University of Virginia, 1976.

* 10. Geographical Data

Acreage of nomlnated property

acre

Quadrangle name Norfolk South, Va.

UT M References

~ 3 h 5 ~ 4 1 9h ~Q1b f 3 b ~ ~ I

Zone Easting

Northing

-

Quadrangle scale

" Zone Easting

'Nirtin;

24000

I II

Verbal boundary description and justification The F i r s t Baptist Church i s located a t 418 East Bute

Street on the northern edge of Norfolk's downtown. The church i s bounded on the south bv

Bute Street; on the east by 410 East Bute; on the west by 422 East Bute Street, both vacant

areas: and on the north by a d l i c alley. The structure i s situated on an i r r e w l a r l o t

L i s t a l l s t a t e s a n d c o u n t i e s for properties overlapping s t a t e or county boundaries Gee Lontlnuatlon

ji3'

state N/A

code

county N/A

code

state N/A

code

county N/A

code

11 Form Prepared By

nameitit~e Virginia Historic Lancharks Carmission Staff organizatVioinrginia Historic Landmarks Camnission date

March 1983

street & number 221 Governor Street

teleohone (804) 736-3144

city or town W%rmnd

state Virginia 23219

12. State Historic Preservation Officer Certification

The evaluated significance of this property within the state is:

-national

2state

-local

As the designated State Historic Preservation Officer 665), 1 hereby nominate this property for inclusion in according to the criteria and procedures set forth by

Park Service.

- State Historic Preservation Officer signature H. Bryan Mitchell, Executive Director title Virginia Historic ~anckmrksComnission

-

date APR 1.9 1983

NPS Form 10:WDa

aa2)

United States Department of the Interior National Park Service

National Register of Historic Places

Inventory-Nomination Form

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, NORFOLK, VA

Continuation sheet {/I

Item number 7, 8

OMB NO.1024-W18 Exp. 10-31-84

7. DESCRIPTION -- Architectural Analysis

On the i n t e r i o r , the vast sanctuary i s dominated by a large pipe organ s e t i n an arched alcove. Below it i s a baptistry painted i n imitation of stone with an open font. The woodwork of the pulpit area, the g a l l e r i e s , and choir l o f t i s a l l paneled in stained wood. The gallery runs along the church's south, e a s t , and west walls, w i t h steps flowing down directly onto the pulpit platform. The church retains i t s o r i ginal pews. The gable i s expressed on the i n t e r i o r with the c e i l i q and principal

r a f t e r s sheathed i n ~ r e s s e d - t i npanels. The rear area of the church serves a s offices.

The church was originally surrounded by a residential neighborhood. Unfortunately, t h i s context has been l o s t with the destruction of virtually a l l surrounding buildings through urban renewal projects. Except f o r some low, modern c m r c i a l buildings nearby, the church now stands isolated.

RCC

8. SIGNIFICANCE--Historical Background

instruction. The black church provided a place f o r both slaves and f r e e blacks t o meet,

socialize, and exchange ideas. Black churches such as F i r s t Baptist thus acted as a

training g r m authority on t

d f he

osur btjheectf,re"e.d.o.mth

tha e c

t was kch

t o cane with emancipation. According became the most important i n s t i t u t i o n

to in

one the

black c&ty

and

modifying aspects of

ittheepsitloamveizmedasttheersa' dcaupltitvueregteonihusisoofwtnhpeutrrpaonsseps.l3t

e

d

African

in

Following Federal occupation of iVorfolk i n 1862, the Reverend Lewis Tucker became F i r s t Baptist Church's f i r s t black pastor, and he continued in that capacity u n t i l 1870. For the next three decades the largest concentration of blacks i n the c i t y occupied the old downtown area of Norfolk and was served by F i r s t Baptist Church, Bute Street.

By the end of the 19th century, blacks in Norfolk had obtained a level of prosperity

and property ownership t h a t was nearly unrivaled i n the s t a t e . According t o an a r t i c l e

i n Science i n 1906, the increased wealth of blacks a s property owners i n Virginia t m s

and c i t i e s increased from 4.65 million in 1891 t o 6.35 million i n 1903, a percentage

i n excess of white property holdings during the same period and a r a t e higher than the

percentage increase i n the black population? The Negro church was recognized a s the

"only sound i n s t i t u t i o n of Negroes which started i n the African f o r e s t and survived

slavery." A Nation a r t i c l e of 1904, i n discussing an 1898 Atlanta conference, said

that the black-

i n America had preserved ramants of African t r i b a l l i f e and

remined the center of contemporary Negro social l i f e . The a r t i c l e noted that i n large

Southern c i t i e s , black church leaders were highly respected by whites i n t h e i r camnunities.

It was i n t h i s positive economic and social atmosphere t h a t the present F i r s t Baptist edifice was erected i n 1906 under the leadership of t h e i r respected pastor, Richard H.

(See Continuation Sheet 1/22)

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