Rodman Street Baptist Church: (6111 Rodman St)

Originally founded as Salome Baptist Church in 1885, Rodman Street Baptist Church is one of the earliest black churches in the East End. Before constructing a permanent home for the congregation on this site in 1892, the church held meetings in the home of one of their members, Melvina Dent.

The original church building, partially seen in this 1964 photograph, was destroyed by a fire in May 1970. The members raised funds to rebuild a modern church and parsonage on the same site. The 1892 datestone from the original church can still be seen near the sign on the corner of Centre and East Liberty Boulevard. Unlike many of the other churches in the neighborhood, the Rodman Street Baptist congregation has continuously operated out of this location for over a century.

Sources:

Brown, Eliza Smith, Daniel Holland, Laurence A. glasco, Ronald C. Carlisle, Arthur B. Fox and Diane C. DeNardo. African American Historic Sites Survey of Allegheny County. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 1994.

Greenawalt, Justin P. “Pittsburgh’s East Liberty Project: Preserving the Artifacts of the Urban Renewal Era.” Master’s Thesis. Columbia University, New York City (May 2010). Accessed at http://www.eastlibertychamber.org/UserFiles/File/JGreenawalt_PittEastLibertyProject_Thesis.pdf

1898 Pittsburg Press Almanac and Cyclopedia of useful information. Pittsburgh, PA: Press Publishing Company. Retrieved from Historic Pittsburgh Book Collection, University of Pittsburgh at https://www.historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A31735056289188