The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974 because of its importance in the civil rights movement and American history.

On January 1, 2008, the US Government submitted the church to UNESCO as part of an envisaged future World Heritage Site nomination, because of this important history.

[4] The Dexter Avenue Baptist Church congregation was organized in 1877 by freedmen and free people of color.

The church trustees paid $270 on January 30, 1879, for a lot at the corner of what is now Dexter Avenue and Decatur Street.

The church began serving the broader African American community on October 3, 1887, when it hosted the first registration of students for Alabama State University, a historically black college.