[4] First African Baptist Church operates a museum which displays memorabilia dating back to the 18th century.

George Leile, a slave who in 1773 was the first African American licensed by the Baptists to preach in Georgia, played a part in the founding of the Savannah church by converting some of its early members.

His initial licensing as a Baptist was to preach to slaves on plantations along the Savannah River, in Georgia and South Carolina.

These included David George, one of eight slaves who were baptized and formed a congregation called the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Aiken County, South Carolina, across the river from Augusta.

After the Revolutionary War started, in 1778 Leile made his way to the British-occupied city of Savannah, to ensure his security behind British lines.

[5] Bryan, who had purchased his and his wife's freedom, was the only one of the three early black Baptist preachers in the colonies to stay in Savannah and the new United States.

Bryan led the First African Baptist Church to official recognition with 67 members on January 20, 1788, at their regular meeting place of Brampton's barn, approximately three miles west of Savannah.

[5] As the Georgia Baptist association grew, there was competition among congregations to claim lines to founding core members and be declared the first church in the state.

These were air holes for escaped slaves who would hide in the church, interpreted as in the pattern of a Kongo cosmogram,[7][8] which served as a stop on the Underground Railroad (UGR).

During the Civil War, the church housed runaway slaves in a 4-foot (1.2 m) space beneath the sanctuary floorboards.

Participants in the early Civil Rights Movement in Savannah held weekly meetings at the church.

The current sanctuary is located in the historic area of Savannah at the corner of West Bryan and Montgomery streets, across from Franklin Square.

It also houses pictures of the church's seventeen pastors, written records (from the 1800s to present), communion sets dating to 1814, and newspaper articles (from 1861 showing the dedication of the facility).

The museum is open to visitors daily during normal hours of operation (10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) and by appointment at other times.