Gainesville in Alachua County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)
Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church and Porters Quarters
Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church is a landmark in Porters Quarters, one of Gainesville’s oldest and most historic African-American neighborhoods. Dr. Watson Porter, a Canadian physician, established Porters addition to Gainesville in 1884 and sold lots exclusively to African Americans, many of whom worked in the nearby railroad yards and industrial sites. The Shady Grove congregation was organized in 1894, under the leadership of the Reverend Mose Edwards and Reverend Cobb. Deacons serving were Brothers Mickins, Sweat, Festen, and Clay. Amelia Carter and Penny Brightman served as the first Deaconesses. In 1900 the Deacons of the church, Thomas T. Sweat and Jackson Stanley, purchased the corner lot from Dr. Watson Porter and his wife for $30 as a site for the congregation’s original wood frame church, which was shaded by large oak trees. In the mid-1930s, the wood church was replaced by the present masonry building, constructed of coquina blocks purchased in St. Augustine. During the Civil Rights era, the local NAACP committee met at the Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church to plan for the integration of Gainesville’s public schools. The Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
Erected 2008 by Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church Board of Deacons and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-684.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion • Civil Rights. A significant historical year for this entry is 1884.
Location. 29° 38.683′ N, 82° 19.778′ W. Marker is in Gainesville, Florida, in Alachua County. Marker is at the intersection of SW 5th Street and SW 8th Avenue, on the right when traveling south on SW 5th Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 804 SW 5th St, Gainesville FL 32601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. The Ballpark (approx. 0.2 miles away); Alachua General Hospital (approx. 0.4 miles away); James W. Norman Hall (approx. half a mile away); Alachua County Courthouse (approx. half a mile away); Lynching in America / Reconstruction-Era Lynchings in Gainesville (approx. 0.6 miles away); Josiah T. Walls (approx. 0.6 miles away); Spanish Cattle Ranching (approx. 0.6 miles away); To the Americans Held Hostage by Iran (approx. 0.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gainesville.
Credits. This page was last revised on May 31, 2020. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 238 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 29, 2020, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.