The Manufacturers’ Record (Oct. 15, 1903) announced that the First Baptist Church (colored) was to erect a new brick church 100 feet by 50 feet, with the architect being W. P. Rose. The cornerstone was laid in 1904. The predominantly black First Baptist Church on Salisbury Street traces its origins to 1812, as does the predominantly white First Baptist Church on Wilmington Street, across Union Square. The two congregations became separate after the Civil War.