Orchard Street Church restoration serves as homage to African-American history in Baltimore
By Alex Glaze Trueman Pratt founded Orchard Street Church with prayer meetings in 1825. He was also a trustee and layman in the church. In 1837, the church was built, and today, that building stands as the oldest standing structure built by slaves and freed African-Americans in Baltimore. For nearly two centuries, Orchard Street Church has been a beacon of freedom in Baltimore. It was also a stop on the Underground Railroad. “Over the years, it has served, as you can imagine, as a spiritual center for African-Americans to gather and plan and try to strengthen themselves and encourage themselves