16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, AL, Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The 16th Street Baptist Church is a historic Black church in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, and one of the most important sites of the American civil rights movement. It was a meeting place for activists in 1963, and it is where the Ku Klux Klan bombing of September 15, 1963 killed four young girls, an act that shocked the nation.

The story behind it

The congregation was founded in 1873 as the First Colored Baptist Church. The present building, designed by the Black architect Wallace Rayfield, was completed in 1911. Its brick Romanesque style and twin towers made it a landmark of Black community life in Birmingham for decades.

In the spring of 1963 the church became a base for the Birmingham campaign. Martin Luther King Jr. and local leaders such as Fred Shuttlesworth held mass meetings here, and young people gathered at the church before marching in what became known as the Children's Crusade. On the morning of September 15, 1963, a bomb planted by Klan members exploded at the church. It killed Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, and injured others. The outrage that followed helped build support for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Years later, several of the men responsible were convicted. The church is still home to an active congregation and was named a National Historic Landmark in 2006.

What to look for

• The brick facade and twin towers on 6th Avenue North, the face of the building as it appeared in 1963.
• The historical markers around the entrance, which explain the church's role in the movement and the bombing.
• The Welsh stained glass window, a gift from the people of Wales after the bombing, showing a Black Christ.
• Kelly Ingram Park across the street, where sculptures recall the protests and a memorial honors the four girls.

Tips for your visit

• Allow 20 to 30 minutes for the church and the park outside, and more if you go in or add the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute opposite.
• This is a working place of worship, so check current opening hours and visiting arrangements before you go, and dress and behave respectfully.
• Morning is a good time for quiet photos of the facade and a calm walk through Kelly Ingram Park.
• The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute faces the church, so you can fit the full story of the 1963 campaign into one short walk.

Explore it on a quest

The streets around the church are best understood on foot, one place at a time. Questo's self-guided quests lead you from stop to stop, tell you about each place as you arrive and set a puzzle in what is in front of you, with no guide and no group to join. Discover the area with the quests in Birmingham, AL.