Civil War and Reconstruction

At a time when African Americans were not treated in the same hospitals as whites, the Union forces occupying Alexandria built the separate L'Ouverture Hospital for the treatment of wounded Black Union soldiers and contraband refugees fleeing slavery in the Confederacy. As part of the hospital grounds, a contraband barracks was built on the adjacent block facing Prince St.^[4] A group of about 50 African Americans, many housed in the Prince St.Contraband Barracks, met in the mess hall on the L’Ouverture Hospital grounds, to be led in worship and prayer by white Baptist chaplains and then by the Rev. Leland Warring, himself a former slave, teacher, and Baptist minister. Rev. Warring continued to lead this church community of Black Baptists until 1889.^[5]

Just a few months after the end of the Civil War Shiloh Baptist Church was able to dedicate their first house of worship in September 1865. Contemporary sources describe this as "a frame building near the intersection of Prince and West Streets, known as Shiloh Chapel, a colored Baptist meeting house".^[6] This location was near the L’Ouverture Hospital grounds where they had first gathered for worship two years earlier. This first Shiloh Chapel was destroyed by fire in 1872.

The following year, 1873, the trustees of Shiloh Baptist Church purchased a lot on the west side of West Street, between Duke and Prince Streets for $175. This would have been at or near the site of their original chapel, destroyed by fire. The low purchase price seems to indicate that this lot was unimproved at the time of purchase.^[7] A city map dated 1877^[8] shows a new building on this lot, labeled as "Shiloh Col’d. Bapt. Ch.,"; no further construction details are known about this new church.

In 1884 the church purchased the adjacent corner lot on West and Duke Streets for $300.^[9] In 1890, discord in the Shiloh community caused some members to leave and establish the new Mt. Jezreel Baptist Church, with a sanctuary on North Payne Street.^[10][11]

It took several years for Shiloh Baptist to build on their new larger corner lot facing Duke St. They hired architect and builder, and construction of their new church started in 1891. The building costs tallied $8,000, and the furniture cost another $2,000. The new Shiloh Baptist Church had a bell tower, eight stained glass windows, modern circular oak pews, and a large reflector with glass prisms hung from the ceiling. The dedication took place on October 23, 1893 with speakers and choirs from across the region. A highlight of the celebration was the Church Art and Industrial Fair. The new lecture room in the church was filled with more than 300 exhibits from Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, New York, showcasing the skill and progress of African American craftspeople.^[12]

World War I and beyond

Like all the Black churches in Alexandria built before World War I, Shiloh marks the original site of a Black neighborhood, centered around the L’Ouverture Hospital and Freedman’s Barracks.^{[note 2] [13]} Over the years its members have spread across the region and into Maryland. In 1953 the Shiloh Transportation Committee was bringing worshippers from Lincolnia to attend Sunday services. The next year they purchased a vintage 1944 passenger bus for $600 to address transportation needs as the members continued to move further afield.^[14]