Wheat Street Baptist Church was founded in 1869 by members of what is now Friendship Baptist Church seeking a congregation closer to home, and it grew into a pillar of Atlanta's Sweet Auburn district. Under Rev. William Holmes Borders, pastor from 1937 to 1988, the church helped desegregate Atlanta's public transit and police force and built the nation's first federally subsidized, church-operated rental housing project. The church continues affiliated community-development ministries, including Wheat Street Towers.