Built in 1922, the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is Gothic Revival in style and located in the Jamestown neighborhood northwest of St. Petersburg’s downtown core. It is the first and oldest continuing predominantly African American church and denomination in the city and has served a key social, civic and religious role in the life of that community.
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Description
Because the church was such a key institution in the neighborhood the area was named "Methodist Town," a name it would keep until the mid-1970s. Many of the founders were local businessmen or laborers who contributed labor or construction materials to assist in the building of the original and future churches.
The church building is a good example of Gothic Revival architecture. Less than one percent of the surveyed buildings in St. Petersburg are Gothic Revival. The Gothic windows have stained glass in them.
The Bethel AME church was first constructed of wood in 1894. The church was altered several times and later relocated across the street so that a larger masonry church known as the "Stone Church" could be erected in 1905. In 1922, construction began on the present brick building which was architecturally based on the mother church of the denomination, Bethel A.M.E. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was literally built right over the existing masonry church.
Researched
St. Petersburg Local Landmark #88-01, information below from city website
Marker
Marble cornerstone on the church identifies when it was built; St. Petersburg Local Landmark
Location
912 3rd Avenue North
St. Petersburg
(Pinellas)
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