Mount Gillard Baptist Church began in 1868 when 26 African American members of Mount Gilead Church left to form their own congregation. The present building was constructed in 1901 and was later enlarged and renovated several times during the twentieth century. Standing along the route of the historic Selma-to-Montgomery March, it became known as the "Mother Church" of the Lowndes County civil rights movement. Its members were committed to equality and suffrage, and it was the first church in the county to host civil rights demonstrations and mass meetings. The Lowndes County Christian Movement for Human Rights held its inaugural gathering there on March 28, 1965, three days after the nearby murder of civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo. Its political arm, the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, recruited a slate of African American candidates for public office in the 1966 election. The Lowndes County Anti-Poverty Action Committee was also organized there, and Mount Gillard congregants were active in each organization. The church was listed on the Alabama Register of Historic Places in 2003.