EMMANUEL BAPTIST CHURCH stood on the southwest corner of South 4th Street and Mt. Vernon Street. Its origins went back to 1848 when the Second Baptist Churchh was constituted in 1848 with forty-six constituent members, mostly from the First Baptist Church, Camden. Thomas Shields and Joseph Matlack were the first deacons. The church built a two-story brick meeting-house on the southeast corner of Fourth and Division Streets, which they sold, in 1867, to the Roman Catholic Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, and erected a meeting-house on the southwest corner of Fourth and Mount Vernon, of brick, two stories high and costing, with ground, eighteen thousand dollars.

The church operated as the Second Baptist Church as late as 1888, according to City Directories. That year's Directory shows the congregation being led by Rev. John D. Flansburg. The 1890 Directory shows the name had been changed to Mt. Vernon Baptist Church, and that Rev. Flansburg still led the church, however declining membership and dissatisfaction with Rev. Flansburg caused much controversy. The 1894 Directory shows that the church had once again been reorganized, and was then known as Emmanuel Baptist Church, with Rev. Joseph N. Folwell now at its helm. Among his successors were Rev. John Snape and Rev. Dr. Quentin Chew Davis.

Emmanuel Baptist Church remained at this location until 1920, when the present occupant, Baptist Temple Church, acquired the property, which they still occupy.

Philadelphia Inquirer - December 20, 1890

1891 Sanborn Map

Philadelphia Inquirer
January 4, 1897

First Presbyterian Church
Emmanuel Baptist Church
Rev. John w. Lyell
Rev. J.S. Heisler
Camden Lodge 293, B.P.O. of Elks
Rev. Dr. Clarence A. Adams
Wynn Memorial Baptist Chapel
North Baptist Church
Rev. Dr. A.G. Lawson
Trinity Baptist Church

Philadelphia Inquirer

October 8, 1903

Philadelphia Inquirer
December 24, 1917