Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church and Porters Quarters
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Coinseekers
N 29° 38.688 W 082° 19.780
17R E 371296 N 3280166
Located at Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church SW 5th St and SW 8th Ave. in Gainesville, Fla.
Waymark Code: WM8KC1
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 04/13/2010
Views: 24
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 physican, 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 Deconesses. 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 origianl 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. Augestine. 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
Marker Number: F-684
Date: 2008
County: Alachua
Marker Type: Roadside
Sponsored or placed by: Shady Grove Primitive Baptist Church Board of Deacons and the Florida Department of State
Website: Not listed
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