Alexander Memorial Baptist Church

Alexander Memorial Baptist Church is a Baptist congregation located at 10675 Crain Highway in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, US. The congregation was founded in 1908 after a group of members left First Baptist Church in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was named in honor of the founder of First Baptist Church, Reverend Sandy Alexander, who was a formerly enslaved person. For over 100 years, the congregation met in a building located on N Street NW in an area of Georgetown called Herring Hill, which was a 15-block enclave for around 1,000 African Americans families. Alexander Memorial Baptist Church was one of five black churches established in the area. The congregation purchased a lot, including the former home of astronomer Asaph Hall, and built a sanctuary adjoining the residence. The cornerstone was laid in 1909. The neighborhood's demographics began changing dramatically in the 1930s due to gentrification and discriminatory legislation targeting African Americans. By the 1980s, half of the congregation's active members no longer lived in Georgetown. In 2013 the pastor and congregation chose to sell the property and relocate to suburban Maryland, where many members lived. They have met in their current church building in Upper Marlboro since 2016. The former sanctuary and Hall's former house in Georgetown were sold for around $7.5 million and converted into lux

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