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Photograph of First African Baptist Church
Photograph by Nyttend, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

First African Baptist Church

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

From the record

“First African Baptist Church is a Baptist church at 264-272 E. The congregation was founded c. 1790 by Peter Durrett and his wife, slaves who came to Kentucky with their master, Rev.”

Wikipedia article First African Baptist Church (Lexington, Kentucky), CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 175 National Register listings published here for Fayette County · listed in 1986 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service · the Wikipedia article

The listing

  • What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
  • Address. 264--272 E. Short St., Lexington, 40505
  • When was it listed? April 1986
  • Category. building
  • Census division. Lexington-Fayette Central
  • Architectural style. Renaissance Revival architecture
  • National Register reference number. 86000854 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of First African Baptist Church: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Tungsten. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lexington Underground No. 1Stone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Semicon Assoc./ Lexington, Ky.TungstenProducer

Every working recorded in Fayette County

Storms near this property

60 of 190 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Lexington, the town this property stands in, in 190 storm reports between 1994 and 2026: 123 thunderstorm wind, 36 hail, 22 flash flood, 7 lightning. The reports record 4 deaths and 5 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
September 2006Flash FloodLexington2 killedTwo women were knocked down and swept away by rapidly flowing water, after trying to cross a flooded intersection. Sixty intersections in town were covered by high water, some with water depths up to three or four feet. Interstate 75 at mile marker 115 was flooded. Interstate 64 at mile marker 81 also had high water.
May 2006LightningLexington1 killedA woman was struck by lightning while placing yard waste in a container near her home. The time is estimated.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindLexington1 killedA was killed in Lexington when a tree was blown on to the vehicle he was driving.
June 2007LightningLexington2 hurtno account filed
October 2018LightningLexington1 hurtThe emergency manager reported that a person received minor injuries from a lightning strike. The individual was evaluated and released from medical care.
May 2004LightningLexington1 hurtA man was struck by lightning while working in a detached garage. He was treated and released from a local hospital.
May 1996LightningLexington1 hurtno account filed
February 2008Thunderstorm WindLexington$250,000A concentrated area of straight line winds in downtown Lexington showed evidence of wind speeds up to 75 mph. Winds knocked down two brick walls of a new tire store. A nearby restaurant had windows blown out. Aluminum siding was blown in at a loading dock. A business had roof material blown off on to another nearby building. The orientation of the wind damage all indicated west to east straight line winds.
February 2008Thunderstorm WindLexington$100,000A house was destroyed when thunderstorm winds uprooted a large tree, and blew it on to the house.
July 2019FloodLexington$60,000The headwaters area of Cane Run flooded and backed near WLEX studios. There were also reports of cars under water on New Circle, Winchester Road, and North Broadway.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindLexington$50,000A department store on Nicholasville Road received unspecified damage.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindLexington$50,000The roof on a tobacco warehouse was peeled back.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindLexington$50,000Numerous trees fell onto power lines. This caused for scattered power outages throughout the city.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindLexington$30,000The roof was blown off a barn.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindLexington$25,000A tree blew onto a house at Rose and Maxwell.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindLexington$25,000A tree blew onto a home in Venice Park.
November 2017Thunderstorm WindLexington$20,000Broadcast media reported a power pole down and a large tree on a vehicle.
May 2010LightningLexington$20,000Multiple power outages were reported in the area due to lightning.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindLexington$20,000A microburst downed approximately 100 trees on the east side of Lexington, mainly in and near Lakeside Golf Course and Jacobson Park. Some vehicle and roof damage resulted from the falling trees in residential areas.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindLexington$15,000Local media reported power lines and trees down on Elam Park.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindLexington$15,000The Lexington media reported that a brick building was destroyed in the Park Avenue neighborhood of Lexington. Several trees were downed nearby.
May 2020Flash FloodLexington$10,000A car was partially submerged at Fontaine Road and Catalpa Road.
May 2018LightningLexington$10,000The fire department reported that four apartment units were damaged due to a lightning strike.
August 2014Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000The Lexington media reported that a tree fell on a house several miles west of downtown.
June 2013Flash FloodLexington$10,000Local Television media reported a water rescue at Elm Tree Road and East 2nd Street. For the entire day, the Lexington Airport measured 2.75 inches of rain. Most of this fell during the mid-evening hours.
June 2013Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000A spotter reported damage to a barn's roof. Nearby, at the same time, local media relayed a report of downed power lines with a fallen power pole blocking the intersection of Newtown Pike and Citation Blvd.
June 2012Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000The Lexington media reported several trees were downed across Fayette County. The largest tree had a diameter of 14 inches. This damage resulted from a gust front associated with a line of storms that moved across southern Ohio. In Lexington, one tree fell across two cars, bring extensive damage to both. According to the local Fayette County electrical utility company, several hundred homes across the county lost power.
July 2012Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000A spotter reported several large trees down near the intersection of Jack's Creek Pike and Spears Road, which is just southeast of Lexington. Winds also damaged the roof of a barn in the same area.
February 2009Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000A photographer stand was blown over in Commonwealth Stadium and trees and power lines were down, especially across the south side of town. Roof damage was also reported to a home on Winchester road.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000Roof damage was reported and power lines were downed in the New Town Pike area.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindLexington$10,000A large plexiglass window was blown in at the Fayette Mall. No injuries were reported.
August 2003Flash FloodLexington$10,000Heavy rains caused area creeks and small streams to flow out of their banks. Roadways, underpasses, and low lying areas were flooded. Several vehicles were stranded in water on Nicholasville and Richmond Roads in Lexington.
November 2000Thunderstorm WindLexington$7,000no account filed
July 2015Flash FloodLexington$5,000A Fayette County law enforcement official reported that a minor high water rescue took place after several inches of rain flooded streets in the area.
May 2006Thunderstorm WindLexington$5,000A tree was downed on a house on Third Street on the north side of Lexington.
August 2006Thunderstorm WindLexington$5,000Siding was blown off a house on the southeast side of the city.
August 2017Thunderstorm WindLexington$4,000Trees and electrical wires reported down at Clays Mill Road and Blue Ash Road.
June 2007Thunderstorm WindLexington$2,000A large tree was blown on to a car on Leestown Road near the Woodford County line.
July 2007Thunderstorm WindLexington$2,000Thunderstorm winds damaged a garage door.
June 2015Thunderstorm WindLexington$1,000A law enforcement official reported two trees down along with an electrical line in the Lexington metro.
June 1995Thunderstorm WindLexington$500Siding was tore off a house on Patchen Drive.
May 2025Thunderstorm WindLexington-A tree was uprooted, pulling up a section of asphalt in a parking lot. The tree fell onto a van.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindLexington-A tree was blown down on the roadway near the intersection of Mason Headley Road and Versailles Road.
February 2024Thunderstorm WindLexington-Power lines were down on 4th Street.
February 2024Thunderstorm WindLexington-A utility pole fell down across North Broadway.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindLexington-A large tree limb fell down on a vehicle in Woodland Park.
July 2023Thunderstorm WindLexington-There was a tree down in a yard.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindLexington-There were multiple reports of power lines down in Lexington.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindLexington-A large tree was blown down, causing damage to a vehicle and power lines near the University of Kentucky campus.
April 2022Thunderstorm WindLexington-Trees were down on Cooper Drive near Colony Boulevard.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindLexington-A tree and power lines were down on Hamilton Park.
November 2022HailLexington-Quarter sized hail was observed near the Henry Clay Estate in Lexington.
November 2022HailLexington-Quarter sized hail was observed in several locations across downtown Lexington.
July 2021Flash FloodLexington-High water was over Winchester Road near Midland Avenue.
June 2021Thunderstorm WindLexington-A tree fell on power lines.
May 2020Flash FloodLexington-Winchester Road and Walton Avenue were briefly closed due to flooding.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindLexington-A tree blew down on power lines and a parked vehicle on Whitney Avenue.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindLexington-There were trees blocking the road near the intersection of Georgetown and Price.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindLexington-A large tree was reported down on Linden Walk.
May 2018Flash FloodLexington-Broadcast media reported that water was flowing over the road near Chinoe Road and Cochran Road.

Every storm recorded in Fayette County

Newspapers printed here

19,631 digitised pages

9 papers published in this town, digitised by the Library of Congress and free to read: 4,639 issues, 19,631 pages. Every page is searchable, so a name or a street can be looked for directly in what the town printed about itself at the time.

NewspaperPublished
Kentucky Gazette and General Advertiser1803 to 1809
The Kentucke Gazette1787 to 1789
Lexington Weekly News1912 to 19??
The Lexington Record1890 to 1???
Blue-Grass Blade188? to 19??
The Lexington Standard1892 to 1912
The Kentucky Gazette1789 to 1803
Kentucky Gazette1809 to 1848
The Kentucky Gazette1866 to 1907

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Courtney Mathews House1.1 miles2011
African Cemetery No. 21.2 miles2004
Loudoun House1.3 miles1973
Mentelle Park1.3 miles1985
Pugh Price House1.3 miles1979
Mentelle House1.3 miles2025

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 86000854 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Fayette CountyAll 175 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.