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Poplar Corps
Community
& Youth Centre
Our History
The Salvation Army in Poplar goes right back to this place on Poplar High Street.
In Whitechapel William Booth preached outside The Blind Beggar pub (still there to this day) and in Poplar the venues were the East India dock Gates and inside the Music hall
"The Orient Theatre"
The Christian mission was founded not in a Church but on the rough streets of the East End of London.
The earliest entry in the History Book is from October 13th 1868, an open air meeting at the East India Docks Gates
James Dowdle was the first officer appointed to Poplar in 1866, known as the Fiery Fiddler, a huge man, once a railway worker, now an evangelist.
Click on his picture to find out more!
in 1872 Mrs Booth laid the foundation stone to the first Salvation Army Hall in Poplar. The stone still forms part of the present building, which was rebuilt in 1927 and refurbished in 2002
Poplar Band
1910 & Flag
in 1901 Poplar's first officer, James Dowdle, became the first Army Commissioner to be promoted to Glory. William Booth presided at the funeral, in 1912 Poplar Flag and Band were part of the great parade of the Founders funeral, which brought London to a stand still.
Early in 2017 General Andre Cox led the march celebrating Poplar's 150 years of active service
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