Sharp Street Memorial Church
Descendant of Baltimore’s 1st Black congregation

Sharp Street Memorial Church

Named in honor of its original location, Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church descends from the first black congregation in Baltimore. In 1797, blacks gathered at 112-116 Sharp Street where the Maryland Society for the Abolition of Slavery opened the Baltimore African Academy, the City’s first prominent day school for blacks. The Society sold the property including the lot and building in 1802 to the black congregation. The church then constructed a new building on the property, which quickly became a community hub where people gathered to worship, discuss abolitionism and African colonization, raise money to purchase the freedom of slaves, hear advocates speak, and receive schooling.

In 1864, the church hosted the first regional conference for African American Methodists, resulting in the first appointment of black pastors and creation of a black governing board. Following its congregation into northwest Baltimore, the church erected the present building designed by Alphonsus Bieler in 1898. In 1921, Arthur M. Segoin, one of the few black architects in the country, designed the adjacent Community House, the first of its kind in Baltimore.

Where church, school, civil rights, and jobs meet

Interior sanctuary, ca 1940

Throughout the late 19th century, this congregation ran the Sharp Street School, assisted in founding the Centenary Biblical Institute (becoming Morgan State College) and a city-wide ministerial alliance. The church also operated an intelligence (employment) bureau, and founded Mt. Auburn Cemetery, one of the few early African American cemeteries in Baltimore, and where hundreds of prominent African Americans are buried including Dr. Lillie Carroll Jackson, William A. Hawkins, and John H. Murphy, founder of The Afro-American Newspapers.

In the 20th century, many civil rights activities found a home at Sharp Street Memorial Church.

1206 Etting Street, Baltimore, MD 21217