Emerging from Central African Baptist Church's divided congregation, Beulah Baptist Church was founded in the Union Baptist Church fellowship hall in August 1885 by Rev. C.T. Walker. Renamed Tabernacle Baptist Church two days later in August 1885, the church moved to Ellis Street. The cornerstone of the new church was laid in 1914. Rev. Walker and Tabernacle's status attracted the support of northern philanthropists such as John D. Rockefeller, U.S. president William Howard Taft, and prominent African-American leaders such as Booker T. Washington. Under the leadership of Rev. Charles Spencer Hamilton, Tabernacle served as the staging point for the Civil Rights Movement in Augusta, holding mass rallies, nonviolent strategy meetings, and in April 1962 hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, Tabernacle continues to be a spiritual and cultural leader in the Augusta community.