FLORENCE, Ky. — The city of Florence is buying a property that once housed the city’s first African American congregation with the intent of restoring it. One community outreach founder is helping the city with the project.
Sienna Thompson, founder of For Family by Family, says she is in awe of the history of this church.
She said, “I found out that the church pastor, Hershel Glenn, was the church's final leader until 1957. And he stayed active with almost over a hundred in this small church of a congregation off and on.”
The church closed in the 1980s.
The northern Kentucky native says she and her daughter have spent their lives providing residents with resources but formed their company earlier this year. The organization provides social and educational services.
Thompson said, “It’s all about the community and what we can do in the community and what our community can do for us.”
In organizing the community’s first Juneteenth celebration, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, the Thompsons discovered the history of the church.
“We found out that this church sitting right behind us is a historical monument in the Boone County area,” said Thompson.
Thompson’s daughter, Dashai Thompson, said, “We decided to go to the city and say, ‘Hey, we would love to have a Juneteenth event and we want to make it educational, and we want to gather everything together.’”
A historical marker was placed on the property by the Kentucky historical society and the Kentucky Department of Highways in 2021, but the building had been on the market for nearly nine months.
Thompson said, “We want to let the whole community know that there is Black history in Florence, Kentucky.”
Thanks to community advocates like Thompson and her daughter, the history of the church and some of the first Black people in Northern Kentucky will live on forever.
The city of Florence Director of Adminstration Joshua Hunt shared, in the coming years, the city has plans to restore the church to its original nineteenth century standing.