First Congregational Church

First Congregational Church after 1914 Source: Courtesy of State Archives of North Carolina

The roots of First Congregational Church date back to 1867, when the American Missionary Association founded a school and church for newly freed African Americans. As the congregation grew, members built a wood frame church with a corner tower in 1896. Under the leadership of Reverend Perfect Robert DeBerry, they later constructed a larger brick church in a Gothic Revival style at the corner of South and Manly Streets.

First Congregational became a vital center of religious and civic life in the Fourth Ward. It hosted North Carolina’s first African American Boy Scout troop and, in 1944, the inaugural meeting of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) North Carolina State Conference.

During urban renewal in 1976, the congregation was forced to relocate to Creech Road, and the original chapel was demolished. The church community, however, continues its work and legacy today.