Caraleigh Baptist Church, Raleigh, NC

Caraleigh Baptist Church began holding church services in 1898 in a brick dwelling house at 413 Montose Avenue in Raleigh. They were received into the Raleigh Association in 1904, which is the official date of their founding. 

Their next building - occupied from 1898 until 1924 - was a one room structure built on land donated by the Caraleigh Mill Company on Park Avenue (now Gilbert Street). 

In 1924, they moved into their present home which has a main auditorium, 13 Sunday School rooms, beautiful hammered glass windows, a belfry and bell, and a heating plant in the basement. The church sits at the corner of Summitt Avenue and Greene Street in the Caraleigh neighborhood just south of downtown Raleigh. This new church was built on land donated by Mr. Linneham and was officially dedicated in 1929. 

My grandparents, Atlas Allen and wife Ethel Davis, and their daughters Gladys, Lib, and Mary Joyce were devoted members of the church. Atlas and Ethel had bought their first home at 117 Summitt Avenue in July of 1938 in the heart of Caraleigh. The church was within easy walking distance of their new home, although I'm sure there were plenty of Sundays when the family headed north to Franklin County to attend services at Good Home Baptist Church in Youngsville.

Atlas and Ethel Davis Allen