⛪ Sandwich First Baptist Church

The Sandwich First Baptist Church is a Black Baptist church located in the Sandwich neighbourhood of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It was established to serve a community of refugees who had fled slavery on the Underground Railroad. The congregation was founded around 1840, and the current church building was constructed in 1851. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1999. The Sandwich First Baptist Church School was a 19th-century segregated Black school located in Windsor, Ontario, associated with the historic Sandwich First Baptist Church. Operating during a time of widespread racial discrimination in Canada, the school was established to provide basic education to Black children who were often excluded from local public schools. The church itself was a key stop along the Underground Railroad, and the school played a parallel role in offering literacy and religious instruction to families who had escaped slavery in the United States. The school reflects early efforts by Black Canadians to build autonomous community institutions in the face of structural exclusion.