Saint Peter Baptist Church has a very colorful and interesting history, which began over 197 years ago by our founding father, Mr. Dudley Brooks. Brooks was a former slave who was awarded freedom after saving the life of his master’s wife. Mr. Brooks moved to Scranton (now called Pascagoula) after gaining freedom and worked as a ship caulker. As he worked, Brooks saved money so he could return to Louisiana and purchase the freedom of his wife from his former slave owner. Mr. Brooks successfully purchased his wife’s freedom. Then he bought her to Scranton to homestead; Brooks built a home on Market Street, which at that time was a two-lane dirt road.

In his humble home on Market Street, Mr. Brooks gathered a small group to worship with him. The newly organized group formed a church, called itself the First Free Mission Baptist Church, and installed the Rev. George Washington as the first pastor.

Attendance grew as an increasing number of blacks came to worship. As a result, the congregation outgrew the Brooks’ home and started to meet and worship outdoors at the 1000 block underneath a huge oak tree on Market Street (presently known as Canal Street). Each family was assigned a root to serve as a pew. The roots were kept cleaned and polished. A small ship’s bell was hung in the tree. The bell served two functions – to summon worshipers to service and to inform the community that a person had died.

The congregation continued to increase in size as worshipers came from Gautier by boat and united with the church. New Era Baptist Church of Gautier was originally a mission of the St. Peter Baptist Church. According to the City of Gautier Historical Preservation Commission, New Era worshipers traveled to St. Peter Baptist by boat for Sunday worship. They would make a day of it by having service, dinner, and service again prior to making the return trip to Gautier at night. 

Even though money was scarce, members of the congregation were able to put together enough money to purchase a piece of land; the size of the land was 200 ft. by 60 ft., and it was $250.00. They built a church house on the land; the building consisted of one square room with a simple pulpit. A larger bell was purchased and placed in the tree where the old ship’s bell hung. The same bell is still embedded in the same oak tree on Canal Street. The site is currently located behind the church. Although the bell and tree are no longer on the property of St. Peter Baptist Church, our members can visit the site anytime and share its memory.

The history of the St. Peter Baptist Church has been passed from generation to generation via word of mouth because Mr. Brooks and the church congregation could not write. St. Peter Baptist Church is believed to be more than 197 years old. Proof of the church’s age is recorded in the 1819 deed that describes the transfer of the 200 ft. by 60 ft. plot of land with all improvements thereon as the First Free Mission Baptist Church by Mr. Brooks.  This description was officially recorded in 1885 by the county recorder William Denny. The original deed was written in cursive writing, commonly called “long hand” during that time.