Historic Black Church in Alexandria Receives $360K Preservation Grant

Shiloh Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, has been awarded $360,000 from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund's Preserving Black Churches program. The grant is part of a $13.5 million commitment to 33 Black churches across the United States to preserve their historical legacy.

"The grant will enhance its worship space and preserve its structural integrity," said Dr. Taft Quincey Heatley, Senior Pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church. The church was founded in 1863 by formerly enslaved African Americans and is located near the Freedom House Museum - a site that once sold enslaved people from 1828 to 1861.

Dr. Heatley highlighted the church's importance: it was founded in 1863 on a Civil War-era contraband camp site, and the 1893 building requires urgent structural repairs, including rotting floor joists. Generations of families have belonged to the congregation, and the church symbolizes community heritage and spiritual identity. "It's not just a building - it's where people met Christ and found community," Heatley said.

The grant aligns with the U.S. 250th anniversary, emphasizing Black churches' roles in social justice movements and democratic leadership.

Other grants in the region include Mt. Moriah AME Church in Annapolis, Maryland, which received $100,000 for its Sacred Spaces Arts & Residency program. Founded in 1874 by free African Americans, the church partners with the Banneker-Douglas-Tubman Museum.

The Freedom House Museum in Alexandria operated as a slave auction house from 1828 to 1861 and is now a historic site preserving African American history. The grant program supports 33 churches across the U.S., focusing on structural preservation and cultural legacy.