USA: One of the country's oldest Black churches' remnants uncovered in Virginia

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A team of archaeologists believe they have uncovered the original brick foundations of one of North America’s oldest Black churches in Colonial Williamsburg, also known as First Baptist Church, as seen in Virginia on Saturday.

During the excavation, the team located the foundation of the church. The Director of Archaeology at Colonial Williamsburg Jack Gary, stated, “It is made out of brick, it is not very large, but based on very careful excavations of soil layers around and underneath this foundation, we have been able to find artefacts that date to the early 1800s.”

Along with the foundations and artefacts, 23 burial sites were located. “The burials show up as stains in the soil, so we have not exposed any human remains. What we have actually seen are in the hole that was dug, the soil was removed, the body was placed in, and then the soil was filled back in, so we are seeing the very top of that fill, and it shows up as a different coloured stain of soil,” explained Gary.

The First Baptist Church was formed in 1776 by enslaved and free Black people who initially met in secret. A tornado destroyed the first building they had in 1834.

First Baptist Pastor Reginald Davis explained the importance of religion for the black enslaved community, “The only thing that kept them going was their religion, and I want to make it clear that they brought their religion with them, they brought their God with them into this strange world from the mother continent of Africa.”

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