Established in 1789, the Portsmouth and Norfolk Baptist Church served as the first Baptist congregation in South Hampton Roads. The name of this Romanesque Revival-style church was changed in 1791 to Portsmouth Baptist Church and again in 1855 to its current name, Court Street Baptist Church.

The church has been led since 1959 by Dr. Wilbur Kersey, who also serves as principal of the attached Court Street Academy (est. 1965), which I attended for two years in the late ‘80s while my mom was stationed at the Naval Hospital about two blocks away. I remember it fondly.