Mount Salvation Baptist Church
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Subject of Research
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Mount Salvation Baptist Church
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Story
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Reverend Cyrus Carter, originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, organized several Baptist churches within the African-American communities in Northern Virginia between 1866 and 1873. Rev. Carter organized the First Baptist Church of Chesterbrook, the First Baptist Church of Vienna, Mount Salvation Baptist Church (Mount Salvation) in Arlington, and Shiloh Baptist Church in McLean, VA (SBC n.d.). When Rev. Carter organized Mount Salvation circa 1872, the congregation began meeting at the residence of Brother Moses and Hattie Pelham by 1879 in what became known as “Pelham Town” (MSBC n.d.; ACHPP 2016:19); the colloquial name for the acreage near Hall’s Hill owned and occupied by the Pelham family.
Bazil and Francis Hall owned the 327-acre plantation that became the Hall’s Hill/High View Park neighborhood. To recoup losses after the Civil War, Hall eventually subdivided and sold the plantation in one-acre lots to African Americans between 1881 until his death in 1888 (ACHPP 2016:12-15). According to the history of Mount Salvation, the current one-acre site was purchased in 1884 by the trustees of the church from Bazil and Francis Hall for $80. Original church trustees included Moses Pelham Sr. Washington Jones, Bonaparte Moten, Harrison King, and Horace Shelton. Land for the cemetery was acquired in 1888, and the first permanent church was constructed in 1892 (MSBC n.d.; ACHPP 2016:19; Maas et. al. 2016: 106). Research suggests an interim one-room, wood-framed church existed between 1884 and 1892. Through circa 1885, the Independent School, an area school for African American children in Hall’s Hill/High View Park, used the building for classes when the Washington School District constructed a new Sumner School at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Culpeper Street (MSBP n.d.; Best et. al. 1995).
Reverend Cyrus Carter of Lincolnville, VA was Mount Salvation’s first officiating pastor (MSBC n.d.). Under the pastorate of Reverend Chinnor Coleman (1905-1917), the building was enlarged, and a baptismal pool installed. Rev. N.R. Richardson was pastor from 1931-1966; he and his family lived in D.C.. His assistant pastor was Rev. James E. Browne (Jones 2018:59). Under Richardson, the church had its most prolific building campaign beginning in the 1940s. Renovations in 1942 included a façade renovation and the addition of a basement, new windows and automatic bells/chimes. The two-story central bell tower was constructed in the 1950s and a new composition shingle roof was added over the original roof in 1963 (ACHPP 2016: 19; SID 2013b; ACBP 1963).
Rev. Browne was the assistant pastor of Mount Salvation, and during this period, he began to lead young adult activities. The church was a member of the Northern Virginia Baptist Association, a group of black Baptist churches. Rev. Browne made sure Mount Salvation youth were involved in the Association's youth activities, especially the annual convention. He also was an integral part of the Baptist Center, a property they owned where meetings, religious services, and summer camps were held (Jones 2018:88).
Mount Salvation played an essential role during the civil rights movement by organizing events in conjunction with Calloway Baptist Church, the Arlington branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and HHHVP residents (Jones 2018: 73). Rev. Browne had moved from Cherrydale to 2011 N. Culpeper and became president of the local chapter of the NAACP during this time. Rev. Browne opened his home for a local NAACP meeting that included Attorney Thurgood Marshall and Attorney Robinson where the decision was made to shift from focusing on “equalizing” African American schools and starting suit to desegregate and end Jim Crow laws (Browne in Bozeman et. al. 2004; Jones 2018:73).
The original 1892 Mount Salvation church building was demolished on July 24, 1975 to make way for a new structure approved for construction on May 13, 1974 (ACDP n.d.; Building Permit No.8760-C). Architect Charles J. Bryant, of Bryant & Bryant (Washington, D.C.) designed the new masonry and steel structure; E.L. Daniels of Arlington, VA was the contractor. The new church is associated with the historic Mount Salvation Baptist Church Cemetery (VDHR #000-9812).
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People
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Reverend Cyrus Carter
Reverend Chinnor Coleman
Rev. N.R. Richardson
Rev. James E. Browne
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Place
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Halls Hill/Highview Park
1961 North Culpeper Street
Arlington, VA 22207
