The first Black Baptist church in Toronto was located here. The congregation was founded in 1826, when a group of freedom seekers gathered on the shore of Lake Ontario for worship under the pastoral leadership of the prominent minister and community leader Reverend Washington Christian. In 1827, they were able to lease St. Andrew’s Lodge on Market Lane, between Yonge Street and Church Street. From 1834 to 184, the services were held in a schoolhouse on Richmond Street.
1841
In 1841, the congregation built a small church building for the African Baptist Church at the corner of Queen and Victoria Streets. The First Baptist Church was also the first registered Black institution in the Town of York. They worshiped here until 1905, after which the property was sold and a new church erected at the North-East corner of University and Edwards Streets. The members worshiped there until the sale of the building in 1955, and the completion of the present building, located at Huron and D’Arcy Streets. The congregation continues today, one of the oldest Black churches in Canada.