Zion Baptist Church
National Register Listing
Street Address:
801 Washington Street, Columbia, SC (Richland County)
NRHP Nomination Form
Record Number:
S10817740182
Description and Narrative:
Zion Baptist Church is significant at the local level under Criterion A in the areas of Ethnic Heritage: Black, Social History, Health/Medicine, and Politics/Government, and under Criterion C in the area of Architecture. Located in downtown Columbia, Zion served as a vital center of activity for the African American community from the building's construction in 1916 through the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. For decades, the church was a key site for local activism in the long Black freedom struggle, used by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Richland County Citizens Committee, and a number of other local organizations. It was also an important site for community health, including as the original location of a clinic opened by South Carolina's first female African American medical doctor, Dr. Matilda Evans. Zion was also the starting place for one of South Carolina's most significant civil rights demonstrations, when students marched from the church to the South Carolina State House where they were arrested en masse, leading to the Edwards v. South Carolina (1963) Supreme Court decision. The church building is also listed as an important local example of Romanesque Revival ecclesiastical architecture in Columbia. The building retains much of its original historic fabric with minimal alteration on the exterior and in the sanctuary, and demonstrates a late, stripped-down variation on Romanesque Revival architecture. Listed in the National Register September 24, 2021.
Period of Significance:
1916 – 1969
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Ethnic Heritage: Black;Social History;Health/Medicine;Politics/Government;Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
2021-09-24
Date of Boundary Increase:
No Boundary Increase
Location:
Richland County
