Enslaved people who had previously attended Baptist services with their White enslavers in Thomasville began holding separate services at the First Baptist Church in 1853. In 1866, they established the First African Baptist Church. The first pastor, Rev. Jacob Wade, served from the establishment until his death in 1877.
The present church building was completed in 1900. The congregation continued its association with the African Baptist Church until 1964, when they reorganized as First Missionary Baptist Church.
The church was granted $155,000 in 2024 from the National Trust for Historic Preservation for future efforts to preserve the property.
Dawson Street Residential Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This cemetery, now commonly referred to as the Flipper Cemetery, is one of the oldest municipal burial grounds for African-Americans in Thomasville. Also known as the old Magnolia Cemetery, it’s distinguished by methodical plantings of oaks and other shade trees and is a well-maintained historical resource.
Flipper Family plot
Significantly, it’s the final resting place of Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper, the first Black graduate of West Point. Lt. Flipper died in Atlanta in 1940 and was buried in South View Cemetery. In February 1978, his remains were exhumed and he was re-interred in his hometown.
Rev. Jacob Wade (?-1873)
But it is also important for the numerous other prominent Black citizens of 19th-century Thomasville, including Rev. Jacob Wade, the first pastor of the African Baptist Church. Additionally, there are a few important vernacular monuments present, most importantly the three crosses and the Ruis obelisk. There are also quite a few typical Victorian and early-20th century memorials.
Cross monuments of Dall Mitchell, Violet Mitchell, foreground; Benetta Lowry?, right.
The birth and death dates are unknown, and with Dall Mitchell and Benetta Lowry, the names are not certain. Those two crosses have been repaired and it’s possible that information was lost. They are quite unusual and vernacular landmarks.
Benetta Lowry? cross monument
This shows the loss of part of the letters from the original monument, which was obviously taller than it is in its present configuration, and the challenge of identification.
Ruis-Wiggs obelisk
The Ruis-Wiggs obelisk is a concrete vernacular copy of other monuments common at the time, usually accomplished in marble or granite.
Marget (Margaret) Ruis (1889-1929)
Margaret and Mattie Ruis (1859 or 1869-1911) are memorialized on the obelisk, as well as Shep W. Wiggs (birth and death dates indiscernible).
There are numerous brick grave markers like the one seen above. Most do not identify the decedent and therefore present a great challenge for identification.
Kate Stewart (16 June 1885- 9 April 1886)
This is one of several damaged memorials in Flipper Cemetery that have been repaired.
Ezekiel Hambleton (19 October 1842-9 October 1892)
The presence of so many manufactured headstones in a Black cemetery of this era is an indication of a thriving and growing Black middle class.
Sophia James (4 July 1860-15 March 1883)
It appears, considering all the broken memorials, that the cemetery was once very poorly maintained, but thankfully, someone took the time and care to repair nearly all of the damaged stones.
Flipper Family plot
Also buried within the family plot, along with Lt. Henry O. Flipper, are his parents, J. Festus Flipper (1832-12 December 1918) and Isabella Buckhalter Flipper (1837-21 August 1887).
This Craftsman cottage was the home of J. Festus Flipper, Jr. (1872-1943). Festus was the brother of 2nd Lt. Henry Ossian Flipper, who was the first Black graduate of West Point. Like his father, J. Festus Flipper, the junior Flipper was a shoemaker. He and his wife, Mary Frances Davies Flipper (b. 1871-death date unknown at this time), were married in 1891. They had three children, and shared the house with several of Mrs. Flipper’s relatives.
The Church of the Good Shepherd was established in 1894 by 27 men and women familiar with the services of the Episcopal church and who wanted a congregation of their own. Members of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, with the full support of Rev. Charles LeRoche, assisted in construction of Good Shepherd. It’s one of just a few Black Episcopal congregations formed by African-Americans in Georgia, although it was always welcoming of all races. The vernacular Victorian sanctuary was built in 1894, and the parish hall (seen right, above) was built circa 1896 and expanded circa 1923. The parish hall served as a parochial school from 1894,-1964. John W. ‘Jack’ Carter, a prominent member of the Black community, was instrumental in establishing the school. [The vicarage, not pictured, is also included in the National Register, and was built in 1908.]
When built, this vernacular Neoclassical Revival house was among the finest Black-owned residential properties in Thomasville. It originally featured a stuccoed facade and a cement fence along the street. W. E. Gibson, the builder, was an expert brick mason, and he and his wife raised two children here. When their age made the stairs an issue, they sold it in 1949. It remains a neighborhood landmark.
Stevens Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Jack Hadley writes that the Recreation Center “was built by Mr. W. E. Gibson in the 1920’s. The purpose of the house was to furnish a place where young black people could get together to socialize and have fun. The center consisted of three rooms and a large room where the youth could dance. In this room were a piano and chairs around the walls. The next room was the game room, containing a pool table and chairs. There was a kitchen where refreshments were served. Local clubs and industries often had social affairs in this building. In the back yard was a swimming pool where many children were taught to swim. The center served the community for about ten years. The owner tried to operate a community store but failed. Mr. Gibson deeded the building to his son Carlton for $1.80. Carlton Gibson raised the flat roof and added four rooms. He also filled the pool to make room for parking cars. In 1938, Carlton Gibson and his family moved into the house as it stands today [first photograph], and it became the first brick house for an African-American in Thomasville.“
Stevens Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
I believe this may be the earliest surviving structure of the Douglass School. The original school, with five classrooms, stood at this same intersection, but I’m not sure at which corner. Jack Hadley notes that this fine building served as “Douglass High School’s extended classroom.” It probably dates to circa 1910, or even a bit earlier.
When W. J. Varner served as principal at Douglass, he also served as secretary of the YMCA, and this structure became home to the first “Colored YMCA” in Thomasville. It appears to be in wonderful condition, and is now home to the True Vine Church of Deliverance.
Stevens Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Equalization-era school buildings that primarily served as Douglass Elementary School still remain on a campus that also included part of Douglass High School, Thomasville’s historic Black high school. It was named for Frederick Douglass, who had visited Thomasville in 1895.
Douglass High School was demolished when local schools were fully integrated in 1970, but the elementary school remained in used thereafter. The Douglass Alumni Association purchased the complex from the city in the early 2000s. The property is known as the Frederick Douglass Complex today, and houses the Jack Hadley Black History Museum. Mr. Hadley’s important research, readily available on the museum’s website, is the source of all the Black Thomasville history I’ve shared.
Dewey City Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
This small winged-gable cottage is a representative property of the Dewey City Historic District, an historic Black neighborhood in Thomasville. The enclosure of the porch somewhat obscures it strong Queen Anne/Folk Victorian influence. Dewey City, named for Admiral George Dewey, was officially platted in 1904, and the district includes the other planned neighborhoods of Pine Summit (1911), Homestead Park (1911), and Douglass Heights (1947). The area is characterized by several vernacular house types, including bungalows, shotgun houses, pyramidal cottages, American Small Houses, and gable front cottages. This exceptional gabled-wing cottage, with Folk Victorian influences, is one of the most architecturally interesting.
The land that came to be known as Dewey City was initially purchased by Charles Bluett Quinn to provide housing for Thomasville’s emerging Black middle class families. The land was considered undesirable because of the sickness and disease associated with the temporary Civil War prison camp that was located on the edge of the neighborhood, It was also a low-lying area, with the numerous branches of Oquina Creek often causing flooding. The National Register of Historic Places notes that property owners who were compassionate to ex-slaves began selling and financing parcels to African-Americans as early as the 1890s.
Dewey City Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
Real estate listings date this house to 1833, and I imagine its present Craftsman appearance dates to the ownership of the Young family, circa 1909. 1833 is very early, even for Thomasville, so I wish I could learn more about the house. I suspect it was much smaller when built.
The Jack Hadley Black History Museum notes that the Young family raised their six children in the home. “The downstairs consisted of 13 rooms, reserved for the family. The nine bedrooms upstairs were used for renters, until the end of segregation…When entertainers such as Silas Green from the New Orleans Minstrel Show came to town, the cast stayed at this house, and the over-flow stayed at the house next door. Quartets such as “The Southerners” and the Harlem Globetrotters stayed at the Young’s home on…occasion. Many men who worked on seasonal jobs, railroad men, traveling salesmen, etc., rented rooms upstairs by the week. Prior to 1909, this home was rumored to have been a brothel owned by a Caucasian woman.”
The house was briefly known as the Mitchell Young Anderson Museum, but I don’t know it’s status at this time.
