1399 McAllister Street

1. 1852

   First Colored Baptist Church founded

   The congregation was founded as the First Colored Baptist Church of San Francisco, the first African American Baptist congregation west of the Rocky Mountains. Its first building stood on Dupont Street, now 1640–1644 Grant Avenue.

   Philip M. Montesano, “San Francisco Black Churches in the Early 1860s: Political Pressure Group,” The Argonaut: Journal of the San Francisco Historical Society, vol. 31, no. 2 (Winter 2021), pp. 54–61
2. 1855

   The congregation took the name Third Baptist Church, as the third Baptist communion founded in the city and to be an inclusive church without a racial designation.

   SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
3. 1859

   The mansion of Captain Charles Goodall was built on this corner, where it stood until the church replaced it.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1896

   The congregation moved from Dupont Street to a building at Bush and Powell Streets, which the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed.

   SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
5. 1908

   The congregation built a church at Hyde and Clay Streets on Nob Hill, where it remained for 44 years.

   SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
6. 1932–1971

   Rev. Frederick Douglas Haynes Sr.

   The Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes Sr. served as pastor. He ran for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1945.

   SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
7. 1950

   Third Baptist Church, led by the Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes Sr., bought the Goodall mansion property and planned three buildings for it; the church and the youth building were built, a second youth building never was.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
8. 1952

   Members of the congregation took down the Goodall mansion themselves, planning to reuse much of its old timber in the new church.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
9. 1952

   Sanctuary and bell tower built

   The congregation moved to the Western Addition and commissioned architect William F. Gunnison to design the sanctuary and the detached bell tower that fronts McAllister Street.

   SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
10. 1952

    Third Baptist Church built a new, purpose-built church here, leaving the Hyde Street building it had occupied since 1906. The complex is a designated city landmark and received a landmark plaque in 2018.

    African American Citywide Historic Context Statement, adopted 2024
11. May 26, 1952

    The building permit for the new church was approved; construction was complete by that October.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
12. October 21, 1952

    The new church opened: fresh from its centenary, the congregation sang a last service in the old church and marched in a body to the new one, and Mayor Elmer Robinson spoke at the dedication.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
13. 1956

    Youth and classroom building

    The youth and classroom building, which houses the gymnasium on its second floor, was designed by architect Alfred W. Johnson and built as an addition.

    SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
14. 1958

    W. E. B. Du Bois addressed the congregation; he and Shirley Graham Du Bois chose Third Baptist for their West Coast lectures and for his 90th birthday celebration.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
15. 1958

    Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson headlined a special event at Third Baptist Church.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
16. 1959

    The cross that stands atop the bell tower was added.

    SF Planning Department, Article 10 Landmark Designation Report, Third Baptist Church Complex, 1399 McAllister Street (Case 2017-004024DES)
17. 1961

    Fire damaged the sanctuary; it was repaired in kind and a small addition was built at its rear.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
18. February 1968

    Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to more than 1,000 people at Third Baptist Church.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
19. 1978

    The church started its Freedom Summer School, a K–12 summer program held in the youth center and gymnasium.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
20. Apr 1982

    Permit 8203150 $$$ $7,000

    Alterations or repairs; dbi records no description.

21. 1984

    Jesse Jackson made Third Baptist Church one of the first stops of his presidential campaign.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
22. Nov 1986

    Permit 8613903 $$$ $10,000

    Accessible ramp installed at the gymnasium entrance.

23. Apr 1987

    Permit 8705623 $$$ $2,500

    Two accessible doors installed in the gymnasium, with patching and paint.

24. Jul 1999

    Permit 9913959 $$$ $3,000

    Equipment, appliances and finish flooring removed.

25. 2002

    President Bill Clinton attended the congregation's 150th anniversary celebration.

    SF Planning, landmark designation
26. Nov 2002

    Permit 200211131309 $$$ $1,000

    Emergency shoring of a staircase, with the permanent repair filed separately.

27. Jul 2008

    Issued Permit 200807146597 $$$ $20,000

    Entry service water lines repaired from the bell tower basement to the water heater room, about 50 linear feet, with 15 feet of exterior trench between the bell tower and the main church.

28. Jan 2010

    Permit 201001064280 $$$ $6,000

    Reroofing.

29. November 15, 2017

    Designated San Francisco Landmark No. 275

    The Third Baptist Church Complex was designated an Article 10 individual landmark by Ordinance 226-17, for its association with the congregation's role in the advancement of African Americans in San Francisco, with the Reverend Frederick Douglas Haynes Sr., and as one of the first Midcentury Modern ecclesiastical buildings in the Western Addition.

    San Francisco Planning Code, Article 10, Appendix A — List of Designated Landmarks
30. Feb 2018

    Approved Permit 201802151424 $$$ $1

    An 18-inch round city landmark plaque installed on the mcallister street facade.

31. Nov 2019

    Permit 201911056536 $$$ $12,000

    Rear stairs replaced in kind.

Three street-space and sidewalk permits are omitted from the timeline. 7 expired or cancelled permits are not shown. The 2025 roll records no building area for this parcel, which is exempt from taxation as religious property; it does carry an improvement value. The complex is three connected structures — sanctuary, detached bell tower, and the youth and classroom building. The Argonaut dates the congregation's employment of its first pastor, the Reverend Charles Satchell, to 1854; SF Planning's landmark designation report dates it to 1856. The Argonaut has the congregation beginning its activities on Dupont Street in 1852; the designation report has it forming that year at a private residence on Kearny Street and moving into the Dupont Street building in 1854. The 2025 roll records no building area for this parcel. The city's African American context statement dates the move here to 1952 on one page and to 1962 on the next.