Add cemetery photos

Monumental Baptist Church Burial Ground

Also known as African Baptist Church of Blockley Burial Ground , Oak Street Baptist Church Burial Ground

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

About

  • Get directions 41st and Ludlow Streets
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 United States
    Coordinates: 39.95698, -75.20446
  • This cemetery is marked as private and may not be accessible.
  • No longer accepting burials
  • Cemetery ID:

Members have Contributed

Advertisement

Photos

No additional photos.

Add Photos

On March 24th 1826, six free men and women met in the home of Abel and Ebba Ward, and organized the African Baptist Church of Blockley Township, Hamilton Village. Services were held in their home for three years until 1829, when the congregation purchased a lot on the corner of what is now 41st and Ludlow Streets, and a small frame meeting house was erected — later replaced by a new church in 1844.


In 1853, thee church, which was then facing Oak Street (now Ludlow Street), was renamed the Oak Street Baptist Church.


In 1876 the congregation purchased adjacent to the church that previously had been used as the congregation's burial ground for the erection of a new and larger building. Under an agreement with the owners, the remains of those buried on the lots would not be disturbed except for the bones of those buried under the foundation of the new building. The church's name was changed for the third and final time when it was incorporated in 1877 as the Monumental Baptist Church.


Construction finally began on the new church in 1884, and the affected remains were reinterred at Olive Cemetery. A tablet was to be placed behind the pulpit with the names of the deceased whose remains had been removed.


Those remains removed to the now-defunct Olive Cemetery were later removed to Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Delaware County, when Olive Cemetery was closed in 1923. Those remains not removed are thought to still occupy the site around the church.

On March 24th 1826, six free men and women met in the home of Abel and Ebba Ward, and organized the African Baptist Church of Blockley Township, Hamilton Village. Services were held in their home for three years until 1829, when the congregation purchased a lot on the corner of what is now 41st and Ludlow Streets, and a small frame meeting house was erected — later replaced by a new church in 1844.


In 1853, thee church, which was then facing Oak Street (now Ludlow Street), was renamed the Oak Street Baptist Church.


In 1876 the congregation purchased adjacent to the church that previously had been used as the congregation's burial ground for the erection of a new and larger building. Under an agreement with the owners, the remains of those buried on the lots would not be disturbed except for the bones of those buried under the foundation of the new building. The church's name was changed for the third and final time when it was incorporated in 1877 as the Monumental Baptist Church.


Construction finally began on the new church in 1884, and the affected remains were reinterred at Olive Cemetery. A tablet was to be placed behind the pulpit with the names of the deceased whose remains had been removed.


Those remains removed to the now-defunct Olive Cemetery were later removed to Eden Cemetery in Collingdale, Delaware County, when Olive Cemetery was closed in 1923. Those remains not removed are thought to still occupy the site around the church.

Nearby cemeteries

Rose Burying Ground

West Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

  • 0
  • 0%
  • 0%
0 mi
African Friends to Harmony Burial Ground

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

  • 136
  • 0%
  • 0%
0.1 mi
Welsh Burying Ground

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

  • 0
  • 0%
  • 0%
0.1 mi
Collegiate Church of Saint Andrew Churchyard and Crypt

Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, USA

  • 1
  • 100%
  • 0%
0.3 mi
  • Added: 9 Sep 2022
  • Find a Grave Cemetery ID: 2761034