About: First Baptist Church City of St. Louis

First Baptist Church City of St. Louis, located in Midtown St. Louis at 3100 Bell Avenue in St. Louis, was founded as First African Baptist Church in 1827. It was the first African-American church west of the Mississippi River. Initially, most of the congregants were African American enslaved people who had permission from their owners to attend church. From its beginning, the church offered reading and religious education clandestinely. The city of St. Louis enacted laws to restrict assembly, education, and religious services for black people. In 1847, the school was closed down by the police. The same year, Reverend John Berry Meachum established the Floating Freedom School on a steamboat on the Mississippi River, where it was under federal jurisdiction. The church was a stopping point o