First African Baptist Church

Savannah, Georgia

Oldest Black church in America.

The First African Baptist Church, founded in 1773, is the oldest Black church in the U.S. and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Historic tours are offered during the weekdays; of special note are the stained-glass windows depicting African-American subjects.

Other historic attractions in the city center include the Owens-Thomas House & Slave Quarters.  Here you will learn about Reverend Andrew C. Marshall, a slave in Savannah who bought his freedom in 1812 with the help of the original owner of the home.

For nearly one hundred years, Pin Point was isolated, a self-sustained Gullah/Geechee enclave founded by first-generation freedmen where family, religion and work were deeply connected to the water.  Today, the former oyster and crab factory has been reopened as the Pin Point Heritage Museum, celebrating history of this Gullah/Geechee community that calls Pin Point home.

Also in historic Savannah is the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, father of Savannah's civil rights movement and leader of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).  The museum chronicles the civil rights struggle of Georgia's oldest African-American community from slavery to the present, including a lunch counter used for sit-ins.

The King-Tisdell Cottage Museum  is dedicated to the preservation of African-American history and the arts.  It is owned by the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation, which also operates the Negro Heritage Trail tours and the Beach Institute, a former school for freed slaves.

Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum, Savannah, Georgia.