Historic John the Baptist Church

Historic John the Baptist Church. . , Historic John the Baptist Church is the oldest Baptist congregation in Pensacola. In 1846, the First Baptist Colored Church of Pensacola, known as Historic John the Baptist Church since 1927, was organized in the Seville Square community. The congregation's first church served black and white Baptists until the Civil War. When fires during the war threatened to burn Pensacola, the colored Baptists kept the church open. After the war, a dispute between black and white Baptists arose regarding the church property. As a result, the black congregation was permitted only limited use of the church. This dispute is recorded in a letter, now in the National Archives, that the colored Baptists wrote to the Freedman's Bureau in 1866. In 1870, under the leadership of the Reverend Robert Ahrens (c. 1833-1925), the founder of the West Florida Baptist Association, the black congregation relocated to the Hawkshaw community. The congregation's first church at this location, built in 1872, was destroyed by a fire. A second church built in 1897, was lost in a storm. The present church was built in 1907 and has played a vital role in the spiritual life of the Hawkshaw community.