First African Baptist Church, Protestant church in Franklin Square, Savannah, United States.
First African Baptist Church is a Protestant place of worship in Franklin Square, Savannah, built with red brick walls and tall windows. The façade with twin entrances follows the classical style of Greek Revival architecture, popular in the early 1800s.
George Liele founded this congregation in 1777, gathering enslaved people on plantations outside the city. The current building rose in the mid-1800s and became a site of refuge for people escaping bondage.
Wooden floorboards in the basement show patterns that served as signals for people escaping slavery. The arrangement of holes helped fugitives locate hiding spaces and safe rooms.
The church offers guided tours from Tuesday through Saturday between 11 AM and 2 PM, allowing visitors to enter both the sanctuary and the basement. Access involves steps, as the building has no ramps.
Pews in the main sanctuary carry carved African symbols worked into the wood by enslaved craftsmen. These markings tell of the cultural origins of the first congregants and remain visible today.
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