White Rock Baptist Church (Durham, N.C.)

The White Rock Baptist Church was founded in Durham, N.C., in 1866.

The White Rock Baptist Church was founded in 1866 in Durham, N.C., by two clergymen, the Reverend Zuck Horton and the Reverend Samuel Daddy Hunt, who organized the church in the home of Margaret Maggie Faucette. As the membership grew, the Church moved from the Faucette home at the corner of Pettigrew and Husband streets to a cotton gin on Elm Street. Two subsequent moves followed, first to a warehouse on Peabody Street and then to a lot on the corner of Pettigrew and Coleman streets.

Land was deeded to the Colored Missionary Baptist Church on March 13, 1877 by Cornelius Jordan. This deed included the names of John W. Cheek, Henry A. Reams, Edward Dolby, Thomas Garwood, Willis Moore, and Samuel Hunt, who presumably served as members of the first Board of Trustees. A large white flint rock located on this property prompted the name change to White Rock Baptist Church soon afterward.

In 1879, the Reverend Frederick Wilkins became the third pastor and led the congregation until 1881. The Reverend W. T. H. Woodward served as pastor from 1881 to 1884, followed by the Reverend B. K. Butler. Butler went on to form the Mount Vernon Baptist Church, Durham, N.C.; the Reverend A. P. Eaton led White Rock from 1886 to 1897. Eaton prompted the Church's move from the Pettigrew Street location to Fayetteville Street. While the congregation held numerous revivals, a brick church was constructed on the property sometime prior to 1895. Eaton left to found Saint John's Baptist Church. The Reverend H. H. Henderson led the congregation from approximately 1898 to 1900.