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Central Congregational Church had roots in religion and politics [1]

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Date: 2025-07-14

Central Congregational Church, South Liberty Street and Cleveland Avenue, 1933. The building was demolished in 1935. Credit: Courtesy of the Library of Congress HIstoric Building Survey

The first Black people to serve in the Louisiana Legislature and Civil War leaders established a church with 1846 roots. St. James African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, Morris Brown AME and University Church at Straight University combined to form Central Congregational Church.

“In 1872, the congregants of the blended churches incorporated Central Congregational Church … a unique place in New Orleans’ African-American history,” The Louisiana Weekly states. Central was “a pivotal place for social and political activism during Reconstruction.”

U.S. Army Capt. James H. Ingraham, who served in the Civil War, and the Rev. Charles H. Thompson, a Straight theology professor, established Central. The 32 original members included Col. James Lewis, brothers Thomas and Capt. Robert H. Isabelle, and Cesar and Felix Antoine. Lewis, Cesar Antoine and the Isabelle brothers were state legislators.

Located in a South Liberty Street building built in 1860 for the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Central became known for education, civil rights activism, social service and spiritual growth.

“The sanctuary … was the largest meeting place in the city opened without distinction of race,” the Historical Marker Database states. “Regularly, the church hosted commencements, conventions, grand lodge meetings, recitals and lectures. It was the only place in the city where the racially diverse meeting of the Southern Sociological Congress could be held in 1921.”

Central moved to Bienville Street in 1945.

“The former Fourth Presbyterian Church, at 75 years old, met the wrecking ball in the spring of 1935,” Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans states. “Despite its enormous size and striking visage, the edifice seems to have gone missing from the annals and albums of great old New Orleans churches.”

After Hurricane Katrina, Central merged with St. Matthew Church — founded in 1849 by German immigrants — on South Carrollton Avenue. The mixed-race congregation officially became Central St. Matthew United Church of Christ in 2014.

For more tales from New Orleans history, visit the Back in the Day archives.

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