February 2026.
The Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church is one of Yost & Packard’s humbler church designs in Columbus. It has some pretty unique touches that give it away as one of their works, and even though there isn’t much meat about it online, I still enjoyed documenting it.
Pilgrim Missionary Baptist is located at 1080 East Broad Street (historically 26 North 21st Street) in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by houses to the north, Broad Street and the site of the Prentiss-Tulford House to the south, 22nd Street to the east, and 21st Street to the west.
History
Snippet of the 1891 Sanborn map depicting the Eastwood Congregational Church. (Library of Congress)
Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church’s current building was originally the Eastwood Congregational Church. That congregation existed as of 1885, as they advertised services and Sunday school in the Daily Ohio State Journal. They were also located north of the current site, noted as “[c]orner 21st and Long.” Checking the relevant Sanborn maps reveals that they still occupied that site, at the southeast corner of Long Street and 21st Street, as of 1891. This building was demolished by 1901 for a Columbus rowhouse (which stands today).
A rendering of the church, which seems to be similar to the final design in massing but much more elaborate. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The existing building was designed by Columbus architects Yost & Packard in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. As seen in the above drawing, the church seems to have been designed with more opulent detail, such as a masonry exterior, finely carved stone details, and a round projection from the corner tower. The existing church was built of brick with spare stone accents and wooden mullions.. It opened on October 23, 1892.
Historic postcard with a photo of the church building. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
The Sanborn maps and the above postcard indicate that there is more to the story, which is not mentioned by any other source I could find online (granted, there weren’t many). This involves some speculation on my part, so take this with a grain of salt.
Snippet of the 1901 Sanborn map. (Library of Congress)
On the 1901 Sanborn map, it unusually demarcates half of the church building in yellow, which is color-coded as a wood building. The rightmost portion is then red, which indicates masonry construction. This confounding combination is luckily clarified by the note “Roof 5’ Above Surface.” It was common at the time for churches to be constructed in stages (this was also the case for Holy Family and St. John’s, two other churches I’ve visited) as the congregations raised money slowly for construction, with services being held in the completed portions of the building. With all this considered, it seems that Eastwood Congregational excavated their basement, slapped a temporary roof on it, and proceeded with the rear apse of the church first.
Snippet of the 1921 Sanborn map. (Library of Congress)
By 1921, it is immediately clear that the entire building was then completed, as it has a uniform red coloration and the 60-foot tower labeled as such. With the postcard’s note of “Dedicated February 14, 1909,” it seems that the entire church building was completed and dedicated by that date. However, in 1927, the church was acquired by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, and it was labeled as the “Eastwood Seventh Day Adventist Church” on the 1921-1961 Sanborn map.
The church building was sold again in November 1964 to the Pilgrim Baptist Church, who remain the current tenants. A historic cornerstone, embedded in the current building’s masonry, states that they were organized in 1906 as the “Pilgrim Baptist Temple.” While researching Second Baptist further west, I also learned that Pilgrim Baptist was established as an offshoot of that congregation. A church building that they once occupied was rebuilt in 1924. The auditor’s website notes a change in 2006 from Pilgrim Baptist Church to Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, though it’s unclear if the congregation simply changed names or left entirely.
The Prentiss-Tulford House in 1981. (NRHP listing)
Although the church itself seems to have changed little since the 1960s, its context certainly has. As I’ve mentioned in other articles, East Broad Street was formerly lined with large mansions in the late 19th century. One of these was the Prentiss-Tulford House, directly south of the church, which was built in the 1890s and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. It had an eclectic design with classical accents. Unfortunately, this house was demolished prior to 2007, leaving Pilgrim Missionary Baptist visible from Broad Street.
Photos
Immediately after parking my car on 21st, I walked south towards Gay and heard someone yelling at me from a nearby apartment complex. I’ve had this happen before, but the people doing it did not sound friendly, so I hustled a bit till I got further down out of view. This did not become an issue later on, thankfully, but I had my guard up the whole time.
West facade from across 21st:
Much of the church’s sanctuary is dominated by the massive trifora in the center. The building has a stone foundation and a bit of dark stone trim, but most of the walls are brick.
The stained glass appears to be in good condition, but the trifora’s woodwork is in very poor shape. The original column capitals have long since been removed or fallen off, and other areas are beginning to crack away. Granted, a new coat of paint seems to be a bit overdue here.
This small wing on the side harms the church’s massing a bit:
The tower stands 60 feet tall, higher than the main roof but not overly so:
The portal has its original transom window, but the doors have been replaced:
The arches are brick here, and even the columns use a simple, repetitive design. Though ornate by today’s standards, contrast it with the side entrance (keep reading) and see what I mean.
These cornerstones are not original and were installed by Pilgrim Baptist in 1964 or sometime thereafter.
The entire south facade:
If I time-traveled back about 30 years ago, I’d be in the middle of someone’s house from that perspective. Remember, this stretch of 21st borders Broad Street and was formerly lined with opulent Victorian houses.
A similar view from across Broad Street:
Tower from this angle:
The belfry’s pilaster capitals are engraved with Greek crosses:
Unlike the grand trifora of the 21st Street facade, the side that once faced an alley has an arcade:
Man, I hate when churches cover stained glass with crappy acrylic panels like this. I get that it protects the glass and prevents vandalism, but it always yellows and gets hazy with age.
At least the three windows above are open to the elements:
I particularly like this highly decorated portal, which is relegated to the alley:
The portal and its surroundings are almost entirely stone, which is carved with a greater degree of detail than the other areas of the building. Additionally, the hexagonal section above uses polychromatic stonework, and the column capitals there are very finely detailed. Considering that these are more in line with the original renderings for the building, I can’t help but wonder if Eastwood Congregational ran out of money and had to scale back their plans for the rest of the church?
Sure, this portal isn’t very big, but the columns and archivolts have ornamentation that is similar to high-style Richardsonian buildings like Orton Hall.
I think this portion would be considered the apse, but it is likely used as offices or a vestry, based on the more regular windows. The first two floors still have all their original windows, but the clerestory is looking pretty rough:
Despite its heavy alterations, I think Pilgrim Baptist is one of Yost & Packard’s hidden gems, and I particularly enjoyed doing my own research and speculating on its odd contradictions.
Sources:
https://www.ghmchs.org/eastwood-congregational-church
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/ohio/id/14399/
https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p16007coll22/id/65772/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/memory/id/3799
https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985216
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g066561891/?sp=3
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g06656190102/?sp=3
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4084cm.g4084cm_g06656192202/?sp=3