First Baptist Church (Muskogee, Oklahoma)

Infobox_nrhp | name =First Baptist Church
nrhp_type =


caption =
location= Muskogee, Oklahoma
lat_degrees = 35
lat_minutes = 45
lat_seconds = 9.97
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 95
long_minutes = 22
long_seconds = 26.26
long_direction = W
locmapin = Oklahoma
area =
built =1903
architect= Unknown
architecture= No Style Listed
added = September 25, 1984
governing_body = Private
mpsub=Black Protestant Churches of Muskogee TR
refnum=84003164cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service] The First Baptist Church is a historic church building in Muskogee, Oklahoma. The church was built in 1903 and was the first church building for the African-American population of Muskogee County. It was built in a Romaneasque Revival style. It features two asymmetrical, crenalated towers and a steeply pitched gabled roof. The build is clad in two types of red brick. The two types of brick are separated by a rusticated limestone belt course. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 for architectural significance and for its importance in local African-American history.

First Baptist "evolved from a mission school founded in 1877 for blacks and Indians". It is one of four churches included in the Black Protestant Churches of Muskogee Theme Resource study.citation|title=PDFlink| [http://www.nr.nps.gov/multiples/64000664.pdf National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Submission: Black Protestant Churches in Muskogee TR] |32 MiB|date=February, 1984| accessdate=2008-02-12 |author=Bryan Brown|publisher=National Park Service]

Muskogee had a "thriving" black community with a business district of "several retail stores, physicians and attorneys offices, a black-owned bank, and a black newspaper, the "Muskogee Cimeter"." The population included 7,831 blacks in 1910 (31% of the total Muskogee population).

References

* [http://www.ocgi.okstate.edu/shpo/shpopic.asp?id=84003164 Oklahoma State Historical Preservation Office entry]