First Missionary Baptist Church of Lowndesboro

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First Missionary Baptist Church of Lowndesboro, Lowndesboro AL. is a sacred place that was organized in the late 1860’s. It was reported by Charles Gardiner to the Freedmen’s Bureau as early as May 1867 that there was a school for freedmen in Lowndesboro that was operating successfully under a Dr. Jennings. There is no further information about the school or its location in the town. It was believed the school was supported and even housed in the Church of Lowndesboro.  

First Missionary Baptist Church of Lowndesboro was organized by Rev. Mansfield Tyler (1826-1904) who was born near Augusta, GA. He was a self-educated former slave. The black members of the Lowndesboro Baptist Church left to form their own church. At that time, the congregation was comprised of 137 members, of which only 5 were white. However, our Christian journey began at the Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Burkeville Alabama; which was a mission under the auspice of the First Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, a white congregation. 

In 1870 the Freedmen's Bureau authorized $600.00 for the construction of a school building in Lowndesboro, AL. These funds may have gone towards the purchase of construction materials for a structure built by Rev. Mansfield Tyler and Daniel Alexander for use as both a church and a school. The first edifice was built in 1871 on land purchased by Pastor Mansfield Tyler and Daniel Alexander from a white family named Meadows. It soon became too small for the growing congregation.      

On December 28, 1878, Mansfield Tyler and his wife, Amanda Tyler, sold the existing parcel of land for the sum of $30.00 to the First Missionary Baptist Church of Lowndesboro trustees for the purpose of using it to build a new church. 

In 1880, Pastor Mansfield Tyler and Bro. Daniel Alexander worked together to build this church on its present site. It continued to serve as both a church and a school until 1883. 

First Missionary Baptist Church of Lowndesboro has had eleven pastors since its humble beginning in 1867. Starting with Pastor Mansfield Tyler from 1867–1904, Pastor Edwards, Pastor Hawthorne, Pastor Charles Pritchard, Pastor R. Royster, Pastor G.B. Chapman, Pastor W.M. Henton, Pastor R.B. McTier, Pastor Isaiah H. Sanders, Pastor Arthur Smith (1964-2003), and Pastor Willie D. Lewis (2003 – Present)  

The historical Marker was erected on June 20, 2026, under the leadership of Pastor Willie D. Lewis and the Lowndesboro School Alumni Association.

This building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America in 2014. Its reference number is 73000356.