The Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is an historic church and congregation which is located at 419 South 6th Street in Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The congregation, founded in 1794, is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal congregation in the nation.
A meeting house is a building where religious and sometimes public meetings take place.
The history of Indianapolis spans three centuries. Founded in 1820, the area where the city now stands was originally home to the Lenape. In 1821, a small settlement on the west fork of the White River at the mouth of Fall Creek became the county seat of Marion County, and the state capital of Indiana, effective January 1, 1825. Initially the availability of federal lands for purchase in central Indiana made it attractive to the new settlement; the first European Americans to permanently settle in the area arrived around 1819 or early 1820. In its early years, most of the new arrivals to Indianapolis were Europeans and Americans with European ancestry, but later the city attracted other ethnic groups. The city's growth was encouraged by its geographic location, 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of the state's geographic center. In addition to its designation as a seat of government, Indianapolis's flat, fertile soil, and central location within Indiana and the Midwest, helped it become an early agricultural center. Its proximity to the White River, which provided power for the town's early mills in the 1820s and 1830s, and the arrival of the railroads, beginning in 1847, established Indianapolis as a manufacturing hub and a transportation center for freight and passenger service. An expanding network of roads, beginning with the early National Road and the Michigan Road, among other routes, connected Indianapolis to other major cities.
Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana. The community dates from 1849, although its early settlers first arrived in the 1830s, and it was formally named Lyles Station in 1886 to honor Joshua Lyles, a free African American who migrated with his family from Tennessee to Indiana around 1837. Lyles Station is one of Indiana's early black rural settlements and the only one remaining. The rural settlement reached its peak in the years between 1880 and 1912, when major structures in the community included the railroad depot, a post office, a lumber mill, two general stores, two churches, and a school. By the turn of the twentieth century, Lyles Station had fifty-five homes, with a population of more than 800 people. The farming community never fully recovered from the Great Flood of 1913, which destroyed much of the town. Most of its residents left for economic reasons, seeking opportunities for higher paying jobs and additional education in larger cities. By 1997 approximately fifteen families remained at Lyles Station, nearly all of them descended from the original settlers.
Lyles Consolidated School is a historic school in Lyles Station, Indiana. The third school to be located in Lyles Station, it was opened in 1919 and used until 1958. Abandoned for nearly forty years, it had deteriorated almost to the point of total collapse by 1997. The Lyles Station Historic Preservation Corporation was founded in June 1997, to preserve and promote the history of the Lyles Station community. Its major project was restoration of the schoolhouse, intending to use it as a living history museum to educate others both about Lyles Station's history and the daily school routine in the early twentieth century. The school was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. Restoration of the site was completed in 2003.
Reid Memorial Presbyterian Church is an architecturally significant building located at 11th and North "A" Streets in Richmond, Indiana. Designed by the Cleveland, Ohio architectural partnership of Sidney Badgley and William H. Nicklas the building was begun in 1904 and dedicated on May 13, 1906. The building committee had visited the Badgley and Nicklas-designed St. Paul's Methodist Episcopal Church which had been built by the Clement Studebaker family in South Bend, Indiana and the two churches have strikingly similar design elements in the sanctuaries. Reid Church was paid for by Daniel G. Reid in memory of his parents Daniel Reid and Anna Gray Reid. The church interiors and windows were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany and the Tiffany Studios. The original organ designed by Hook and Hastings is still in use, though it was rebuilt in 1958 by the Wicks Organ Company. The organ was featured with a recital during the Organ Historical Society's 2007 convention in Indianapolis.
Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, or BMG, is an architectural firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was founded in Indianapolis on April 10, 1853, as D. A. Bohlen, Architect by Diedrich A. Bohlen, German immigrant. In 1884, after Diedrich's son, Oscar D. Bohlen, joined the firm it was renamed D. A. Bohlen and Son. Four successive generations of Bohlen architects have worked at the firm: Diedrich A. Bohlen, Oscar D. Bohlen, August C. Bohlen, and Robert L. Bohlen. The firm specialized in institutional projects, especially civic, religious, and educational buildings. In 1971 Melvin B. G. Meyer acquired majority interest in the firm, which adopted its name in reference to its founder and its two principal architects, Meyer and John M. Gibson. The architectural firm is among the oldest still operating in the United States. More than twenty of its projects are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church in Springtown, New Jersey, United States. The church was part of two free negro communities, Othello and Springtown, established by local Quaker families, like the Van Leer Family. The congregation was established in 1810 in Greenwich Township as the African Methodist Society and joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1817. A previous church building was burned down in the 1830s in an arson incident and the current structure was built between 1838 and 1841.
The Mechanicsburg Baptist Church is a historic church in the village of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, United States. Constructed for a Methodist congregation in the late nineteenth century, the building was taken over by Baptists after the original occupants vacated it, and it has been named a historic site.
Second Baptist Church is a historic church building in the village of Mechanicsburg, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the mid-19th century, it is the oldest church in the village, and it has been named a historic site.
The Bethel A.M.E. Church, known in its early years as Indianapolis Station or the Vermont Street Church, is a historic African Methodist Episcopal Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. Organized in 1836, it is the city's oldest African-American congregation. The three-story church on West Vermont Street dates to 1869 and was added to the National Register in 1991. The surrounding neighborhood, once the heart of downtown Indianapolis's African American community, significantly changed with post-World War II urban development that included new hotels, apartments, office space, museums, and the Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis campus. In 2016 the congregation sold their deteriorating church, which will be used in a future commercial development. The congregation built a new worship center at 6417 Zionsville Road in Pike Township in northwest Indianapolis.
Weaver is an unincorporated community in Liberty Township, Grant County, Indiana. Weaver's first settlers were free people of color who migrated from North Carolina and South Carolina to Grant County in the early 1840s. The neighborhood was originally known as Crossroad; however, it was later renamed Weaver in honor of a prominent family of the community. The rural settlement reached its peak in the late 1800s, when its population reportedly reached 2,000. Many of its residents left the community for higher-paying jobs in larger towns during the Indiana's natural gas boom, but more than 100 families remained in the settlement in the early 1920s. Weaver, as with most of Indiana's black rural settlements, no longer exists as a self-contained community, but Weaver Cemetery remains as a community landmark.
Diedrich Augustus Bohlen a native of Cadenberge, Kingdom of Hanover, immigrated to the United States around 1851 and founded D. A. Bohlen, Architect, in 1853 at Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1971 it became Bohlen, Meyer, Gibson and Associates, and is among the oldest architectural firms in the United States still in operation. Bohlen is best known for introducing the German Neo-Gothic architecture style to Indiana. Bohlen and his firm specialized in institutional projects, especially civic, religious, and educational buildings. More than forty of the firm's projects are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including several of D. A. Bohlen's designs: Morris-Butler House (1864); Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church (1871), its rectory (1863), and bishop's residence (1878); Indianapolis's Roberts Park Methodist Church (1876) and Crown Hill Cemetery's Gothic Chapel (1877); and in collaboration with his son, Oscar D. Bohlen, the Indianapolis City Market (1886). The combined campus of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods make up the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Historic District, the largest cohesive collection of Bohlen buildings. The District is of statewide significance on the National Register of Historic Places, for its contribution to architectural, educational and religious history.
Beech Settlement was a rural settlement in Ripley Township, Rush County, Indiana. Its early settlers were free people of color and a small number of free blacks, who came to the area with Quakers. Beech was one of Indiana's early black rural settlements and also one of its largest. The rural neighborhood received its name because of a large stand of beech trees in its vicinity. By 1835 the farming community had a population of 400 residents, but largely due to changing economic conditions, including rising costs of farming, the settlement's population began to decline after 1870. Fewer than six of the Beech families remained by 1920. As with most of Indiana's black rural settlements, Beech Settlement no longer exists. Few major points of interest remain; however, the community's Mount Pleasant Beech Church serves as the site for annual reunions of its friends and the descendants of former residents.
Roberts Settlement was an early rural settlement in Jackson Township, Hamilton County, Indiana. Dating from the 1830s, its first settlers were free people of color, most of whom migrated from Beech Settlement, located 40 miles (64 km) southeast in rural Rush County, Indiana. Many of Roberts Settlement's early pioneers were born in eastern North Carolina and Virginia. Some of its settlers were ex-slaves. The neighborhood received its name from the large contingent of its residents who had the surname of Roberts. By the 1870s the farming community had a population of approximately 300 residents. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the settlement's population began to decline, largely due to changing economic conditions that included rising costs of farming. Fewer than six families remained at the settlement by the mid-1920s. Most of Indiana's early black rural settlements, including Roberts Settlement, no longer exist. Roberts Chapel, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, serves as the site for the community's annual reunions of its friends and the descendants of former residents.
Bethel AME Church of Crawfordsville is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church located at Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana. It was built in 1892, and is a one-story, gable fronted frame building on a brick foundation. It features a large round-arched window and two-story, square corner tower. Portions of the building are believed to date to 1847. Also on the property is a contributing one-story, Queen Anne style cottage that served as the original parsonage.
Roberts Park Methodist Episcopal Church, whose present-day name is Roberts Park United Methodist Church, was dedicated on August 27, 1876, making it one of the oldest church remaining in downtown Indianapolis. Diedrich A. Bohlen, a German-born architect who immigrated to Indianapolis in the 1850s, designed this early example of Romanesque Revival architecture. The church is considered one of Bohlen's major works. Constructed of Indiana limestone at Delaware and Vermont Streets, it has a rectangular plan and includes a bell tower on the southwest corner. The church is known for its interior woodwork, especially a pair of black-walnut staircases leading to galleries (balconies) surrounding the interior of three sides of its large sanctuary. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 19, 1982. It is home to one of several Homeless Jesus statues around the world, this one located behind the church on Alabama Street.
Bethel A.M.E. Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church located at Richmond, Wayne County, Indiana. The congregation was founded in 1836. The church was built in 1854, and enlarged and remodeled in the Romanesque Revival style with a mix of Neo-classical elements in 1892–1894. It is a one-story, cruciform plan, brick building with a 2+1⁄2-story bell tower. The church serves as an educational, political, and cultural center for the local African American community.
Central Christian Church, also known in its early years as the Church of Christ in Indianapolis and Christian Chapel, is located at 701 North Delaware Street in downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Its members formally organized on June 12, 1833, as the city's first Christian Church congregation. The congregation formally adopted the name of Central Christian Church on February 3, 1879. Its red brick and stone masonry Romanesque Revival-style church was dedicated in 1893. Building additions were completed in 1913 and in 1922. The church continues to serve the Indianapolis community and holds weekly worship services.
Meridian Street United Methodist Church, known in its early years as Wesley Chapel, the Meridian Street Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Meridian Street Methodist Church, is a Methodist church located at 5500 North Meridian Street in Indianapolis, Indiana. The church originated from the first Methodist congregation in Indianapolis that began in a log cabin in 1821–22 with fifty members. The congregation worshipped at several locations and erected four earlier churches on Monument Circle and along Meridian Street in downtown Indianapolis before it merged with the Fifty-first Street Methodists in 1945. The first service at its North Meridian Street location was held on June 29, 1952. Designed by the architectural firm of Russ and Harrison, the Georgian-Colonial-style, red-brick church is noted for its architecture, pipe organ, and formal parlor. The Aldersgate addition on the west side (rear) of the church was consecrated on October 4, 1989.
