Birmingham, AL

16th Street Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: Although founded in 1873, the current church was designed by Black architect Wallace A Rayfield and built by the Windham Brothers Construction Company in 1911 as the finest of its kind in Alabama; directly adjacent to downtown and under the leadership of then Rev John H Cross, the church with a seating capacity of 1,600 lent itself to be the staging area for the civil rights protests; it was the location of a 16 September 1963 bombing that killed four little girls in the Ladies Lounge School -- Denise McNair, Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins, and Carol Robertson and wounded 22 others; most historians credit the 4 martyred girls for putting a noble face on the Civil Rights Movement; nearly $230,000 in donations worldwide poured in to rebuild the church; and help the bereaved families; the front of the church has been restored and a memorial to the girls is accessible downstairs; Rev. Dr Chistopher M. Hamlin has written a book about the history of the church

SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a

ADDRESS: 1530 Sixth Ave North at 16th Street North  MAP

PHONE: 205-251-9402

Metropolitan AME Zion Church
DESCRIPTION: Founded in 1885 under the leader of Bishop WA Stewart, with the current edifice built in 1903 and rebuilt in 1955, this church was also key to the civil rights marches played out in Kelly Ingram Park

SUNDAY WORSHIP: 11a

ADDRESS: 1530 Fourth Ave North  MAP

PHONE: 205-252-8503

St. Paul United Methodist Church

DESCRIPTION: One of the oldest United Methodist Congregations in Alabama

SUNDAY WORSHIP:

ADDRESS: 1500 6th Ave North  MAP
PHONE: 205-252-3236

Bethel Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: Founded in 1926; a small church home for a giant of man, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who led the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham; due to Rev Shuttlesworth’s constant pressure against the status quo of segregation and racism in the 1950s, this church was bombed three times and still evidences such bombings; the congregation moved to a new church

SUNDAY WORSHIP: designated a National Historic Site

ADDRESS: 3191 29th Ave North  MAP

PHONE: n.a.

New Bethel Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION: original Bethel Baptist congregation moved to this new church

SUNDAY WORSHIP:
ADDRESS: 222 47th Street South  MAP
PHONE: 205-591-6525‎