The First African Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia (now Alfred Street Baptist Church), established in 1818, is the oldest African American congregation in the city. It has long been a mission of the (white) First Baptist Church. Two years prior to the present, the church’s first “‘bona fida’ Negro minister/pastor” assumed the pulpit.
Then came the war. Today the Union Army, pushing into Virginia, occupies Alexandria. Union forces occupy the city for the remainder of the war.
The Union Army takes over a number of churches in the city, including the First African Baptist Church. In the months coming, church facilities are used as a hospital and recruiting station, and worship services go ‘underground.’
Source: Alfred Street Baptist Church (link)
