First Baptist Church (Muskogee, Oklahoma)
Encyclopedia
The First Baptist Church is a historic church building
Church Building
The Church Building is located at the corner of Main and Market Streets in downtown Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, just across Market Street from the Dutchess County Court House, and north of the Bardavon Theater...

 in Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Muskogee is a city in Muskogee County, Oklahoma, United States. It is the county seat of Muskogee County, and home to Bacone College. The population was 38,310 at the 2000 census, making it the eleventh-largest city in 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
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...

 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
Belt course
A belt course is a continuous row or layer of stones, tile, brick, shingles, etc. in a wall. The Romanesque style of architecture is notable for the use of belt courses. Similar to a belt course is an entablature which runs along the top of a row columns instead of along a wall....

. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

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.

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).
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