Long before Trinity Baptist Church gathered for worship on Six Forks Road,
the property already held a place in the life of the community.
After difficulties arose in securing an earlier proposed building site,
the Raleigh Baptist Association purchased property from Mr. H. L. Carter on Six Forks Road.
The tract included approximately two acres of land and a large duplex house that had earlier served as Oak Grove School.
At the time of the purchase, Joe and James Shaw and their families were living in the duplexes. They were the sons of Hugh and Maude Shaw.
The anniversary book records that “Mama Shaw” had attended Oak Grove School and became closely tied to Trinity’s story.
Additional pieces of property were also acquired. Two acres at the rear of the house were purchased from Mrs. Lizzie Saunders.
A strip of land in front, located between the old railroad bed and the present road, was purchased from Mr. J. W. Huff.
In all, a little over four acres and the house were purchased for $13,800.
The photograph of the property sign from those early days says simply that the four-acre site had been purchased by the Raleigh Baptist Association “for a new Baptist church.” At that moment, there was no name on the sign beyond that purpose.
Trinity Baptist Church had not yet formally taken its name. The property was a beginning, waiting for a congregation.
Under the leadership of E. H. Roberts, Jr., the men of the church restored the original auditorium.
The former school property, once part of another chapter in the community’s life, was prepared to become a place of Sunday School and worship.
Something is fitting about Trinity’s beginning in a building once used as a school.
From the earliest days of the church, worship and learning would be closely connected. Children and adults would gather for Sunday School. Vacation Bible School would begin within Trinity’s first year. More classroom space would soon be needed.
The old schoolhouse on Six Forks Road was not the end of Trinity’s building story.
In time, the church would add new spaces for worship, education, fellowship, and ministry.
But this was the place where the congregation first gathered and where a new Baptist church began serving a growing Raleigh community.
Read More in 70 Years at Trinity
This story was drawn from 70 Years at Trinity: February 5, 1956 – May 3, 2026, prepared in celebration of the seventieth anniversary of Trinity Baptist Church.
For more about the property purchased on Six Forks Road and the building once used as Oak Grove School, see pages 9 and 12–14 of the anniversary book.
