The History of Queen Street Baptist Church

Established in 1865

We  thank God for the small group of newly freed slaves who gathered to  praise God and worship Him as freed men. This group, originally members  of the First Baptist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, organized  themselves into a church to be known as Second Baptist Church; Reverend  John Smith was named the first Pastor, he died in 1881. This small  congregation moved from the courthouse to Butler School, later named  Whittier School on the Hampton Institute campus, then subsequently to  Shield's Tract. Pastor Smith advised the congregation to purchase land  in the main district of Hampton to build a church. Thus, in 1875 a new  church was constructed at a cost of $2,800 - a great accomplishment for  people of color in those early days. This group organized into a Baptist  Church to become known as the Second Baptist Church. The name of the  Church was later changed to Queen Street Baptist Church upon which it is  located. The church has experienced continuous spiritual progress under  the leadership of:

Reverend John Smith (1865-1881)                   

Reverend Ebenezer Byrd (1881-1883)

Reverend Thomas H. Shorts (1883-1917)      

Reverend J. A. Brown (1918-1929)

Reverend Berryman H. Johnson (1929-1934)  

Rev. Dr. George S. Russell (1935-1966)

Reverend Calvin L. Jones (1966-1970)      

Reverend Omie L. Holiday (1971-1975)

Reverend Marcus A. Pierce (1978-1988)        

Rev. Dr. Anderson W. Clary, Jr. (1991-2014)

On  June 9, 1991 Anderson W. Clary, Jr. was installed as the tenth Pastor  and served the Church untiringly until his retirement effective June 30,  2014.

On January 18, 2015, the Church conferred on Rev. Anderson W. Clary, Jr.  the status of “Pastor Emeritus.” In  the period following Reverend Clary's retirement the Church was able to  maintain some growth and carry on under the leadership of the Joint  Official Ministry and Interim Pastor, Rev. Dr. Jacqueline T. Gholson (2015 -2017).

In  the 154th year of the Church history, on April 20, 2019, at a duly  called church conference Rev. Dr. Billy J. Hill was elected the eleventh  Pastor of Queen Street Baptist Church on the first ballot. He preached  his first sermon, as Pastor-Elect and officiated Holy Communion on the  first Sunday in June 2019. Dr. Hill was officially installed as the 11th Pastor in October of 2019.