Talk:St. John Baptist Church (Lecompte, Louisiana)

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Baptist church or not[edit]

Back in October 2020 User:Arminden noted a question for clarification, which I moved to here: "Is it only called "St. John" (if so: after which St John?), or is it "St. John the Baptist" and the name was "shortened" in order not to repeat the word "Baptist"? *If* the latter: the word "Baptist" that's now part of the article title is about denomination, and like this it's misleading (again, *if* the name is incomplete)."

I think the question was raised because the article posed that the church "is a historic Baptist church", but I believe that is possibly incorrect speculation by Choster who inserted that assertion in this edit.

Unfortunately numerous articles about NRHP-listed places, for which a few fields of cryptic database information have been available, have been created over the years almost from thin air. Editors have made incorrect assumptions on various matters, e.g. whether an associated person was an architect rather than a builder, e.g. whether all buildings on a given property were built at the same time, etc. Here, I think all that was available was the name "St. John Baptist Church" which Choster assumed meant it was a Baptist church, while a different take would have been to assume it is Catholic or another denomination and that the name is short for "St. John the Baptist".

The NRHP document reference, added just now by me, states that "St. John Baptist Church was organized in 1869 as a church for the black residents of Ashton Plantation" and "The present church building was dedicated on November 11, 1888" without giving a denomination or explanation of the church's name.

There is a cemetery behind, mentioned in the NRHP document though not included in the NRHP listed area.

I see this obituary in 2022 mentioning visiting hours given on Saturday, August 06 2022 at St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 131 Frankie Smith Rd., Lecompte, LA 71346. I'm not sure if that is this church or a different location.

Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

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Some location information (see together in OSM map link at right):

There is a St. John Missionary Baptist Church in Alexandria, on Broadway Avenue, at 31°17′50″N 92°26′11″W / 31.297098°N 92.436415°W / 31.297098; -92.436415

There is a St. John Cemetery, on Frankie Smith Rd. at 31°07′51″N 92°24′38″W / 31.130897°N 92.410687°W / 31.130897; -92.410687, just off what Google maps shows as LA 546. This is in "Lamourie" apparently, and there is a building there. I can't tell if it is the listed clapboarded structure that has a tower, or a different building, but with a wide addition to the rear.

"Frankie Smith" seems to be name of multiple segments of roadway, perhaps was or is another name for Louisiana 456. Louisiana 456 runs north-south just to the west of railroad tracks; U.S. Highway 71 and/or U.S. Highway 167 is bigger running north-south on the east side of the railroad. Another location showing in Google maps, further south along 546, as Frankie Smith Rd. is 31°06′39″N 92°24′16″W / 31.110821°N 92.404446°W / 31.110821; -92.404446.

Putting this together, I am thinking there's just one church there, now with an addition to its rear, named "St. John Baptist Church" or St. John Missionary Baptist Church. The Missionary Baptist church on Frankie Smith Drive would be this one, so it is Baptist would be this one, I guess. All this would be confirmed if someone could actually see the church there, but Google streetview and Bing streetside cameras did not go along right there.

--Doncram (talk,contribs) 19:27, 20 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]

I expanded the intro text, it is true, on the preciously thin basis that it was listed in Category:19th-century Baptist churches. For what it's worth, "History of Louisiana Negro Baptists From 1804 to 1914" by William Hicks does mention that a C.L. Roberts pastored at a St. John church in Lamourie, La. A 1998 article says the church was destroyed by fire, which may explain why the structure next to the cemetery does not match the description. - choster (talk) 23:00, 21 March 2023 (UTC)[reply]