“We Shall Overcome” certainly tells the story of High Street Baptist Church’s history from its founding in 1865 by former slaves to the demonstrations of 1963 when Martin Luther King addressed the civil rights movement from this pulpit. The third sanctuary erected on this site, the cornerstone reads, “Erected 1873. Burned 1878. Rebuilt 1878. Burned 1901. Rebuilt 1901 .“ The standing- seam metal roof of the church, which was ripped off by the chaotic windstorm of June 1995, has been replaced by a congregation that has stood the test of time. Celebrating 131 years of history in October of this year, the soaring towers of its Romanesque Revival architecture command the skyline from many vantage points in the city. 

Immediately following the Civil War, early members met in an old hospital near Lee and Whitmell streets, an area referred to as “Hospital Hill”, which had been used to house sick Federal prisoners suffering from an epidemic of smallpox and other war-related diseases. Early records from the Clerk’s Office relate that the seventy foot lot was conveyed to “Moses Green, Preston Watkins, and Davis Cosby, Trustees of the first colored Baptist church in the Town of Danville.” The first minister of the church was Rev. Harrison Scott. A later minister, Rev. Samuel A. Moses, was a leader in the establishment of the Sav[ngs Bank of Danville, now First State Bank. 

The geometry of the two uneven-height towers with their pyramidal roofs, the exquisite brickwork, and the stained glass windows, especially the round window with its Jeweled crown over the front entrance, create a spectacular edifice contributing to the City of Churches. Given by Mt. Vernon Methodist Church in the I 940s on behalf of its sexton of many years, Mr. William H. Claiborne, a faithful member of High Street Church, the Hook and Hastings organ was—before severe damage in the 1995 windstorm—perhaps the oldest pipe organ still in active service in Danville. Currently, a new organ is being built using parts from the historic instrument. The church is led today by many descendants of original families with Rev. Jerome B. Morris as its minister.