Beale Street Baptist Church, also known as, First Baptist Church or Beale Avenue Baptist Church, is a historic church on Beale Street, built by a congregation of freed slaves in Memphis, Tennessee. It was designed by the prominent Memphis architectural firm Jones & Baldwin, a partnership between Edward Culliatt Jones and Matthias Baldwin. Its foundation stone was laid in 1869, and it was constructed between 1871 and 1885. In the late 1880s, the church also housed the newspaper office of Ida B. Wells, the famous civil rights journalist. Over the years, Ulysses S. Grant and Teddy Roosevelt made visits to the church. The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and was included in an enlargement of the National Historic Landmark District of Beale Street in 1993. Adjacent to the church, a plaza dedicated to Ida B. Wells was established in 2021. References External links Buildings and structures in Memphis, Tennessee Baptist churches in Tennessee Churches completed in 1885 National Register of Historic Places in Memphis, Tennessee 1885 establishments in Tennessee