Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site)

Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site). Fredericksburg: Timeless.. , On June 8, 1890, masons laid a stone from the old pro-slavery Methodist Church as the cornerstone for a new church. It would be called Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) to distinguish it from the original church that remained on Sophia Street and differentiated as Old Site. Sealed within the cornerstone was a Bible, a silver dollar and a greenback dollar, the Grand Army of the Republic badge of Union veteran Benjamin F. Ross (54th Massachusetts Regiment), and other items., Churches became places where the African American community worked to overcome racial discrimination through education. In 1905, Joseph Walker and a group of like-minded citizens provided a high school for African American students, since the Fredericksburg Colored School was limited to the elementary grades. They established the Fredericksburg Normal and Industrial Institute, first in the basement of Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) and later in a more permanent location in Mayfield., [Captions:] , Joseph Walker was born a slave in Spotsylvania County, in 1854. He was a leading member of the Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) and a strong proponent of education., This 1878 map shows how Princess Anne Street developed as Fredericksburg's government and religious corridor, with prominent churches, City Hall and several court houses along its route. Shiloh Baptist Church (New Site) continued this pattern when it was built in 1890 and new government buildings continue that pattern today., One of the stained glass windows in the church commemorates Dr. Urbane Bass, a physician who served with the segregated 93rd Division in France during World War One. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross (posthumously) in 1918 and is buried in the National Cemetery on Lafayette Boulevard. The window was dedicated on July 13, 1920.