On Sunday, April 14, the Leeds Historical Society will meet at Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church as it continues a year-long series of meetings about the history of churches in Leeds.

The meeting will begin at 2 p.m. Admission is free to the public, and refreshments will be served. The church is located at 7008 Coosa Avenue.

The first African American Baptist church in the Leeds area, Mt. Pleasant was founded by former slaves in 1874, 13 years before Leeds was incorporated as a city and nine years before the first railroad came to town.

Members of Mt. Pleasant later founded four additional African American Baptist churches in the Leeds area. They were the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church, Macedonia Baptist Church, Little Rock Baptist Church and Patrick City Baptist Church.

In 2009, Mt. Hebron Baptist Church celebrated 190 years of operation, Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church celebrated 135 years, and Little Rock Baptist Church celebrated 100 years.

The Leeds Historical Society is a non-profit organization that meets on the second Sunday of every other month.