Hartford Memorial Baptist Church (Detroit, Mich.)

Between 1910 and 1920 the African-American population of Detroit increased from 5,741 to 40,838. Key institutions in the spiritual and social life of African Americans, African-American churches in Detroit grew in number from six in 1916 to over forty in 1926. African Americans settled on the east side of Detroit first and then migrated west, where there were no African-American churches. Rev. Edward Wendall Edwards approached the pastors of the Second Baptist Church and the Detroit Baptist Union and they both supported the establishment of a new church for the west side of Detroit. In 1917, the First Institutional Baptist Church of Detroit was organized with Rev. Edwards as its first pastor; it was the first African-American religious institution west of Woodward Avenue in Detroit.

Resigning in 1920 to do missionary work, Edwards was succeeded by Rev. Charles Andrew Hill of Detroit. Soon afterwards, the name of the church was changed to Hartford Avenue Baptist Church. One of the earliest buildings in which the church worshipped was at 6326 Hartford; in 1924 a more permanent structure was built on the corner of Hartford and Milford. By 1945, church membership was over 1,000.

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