Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, now the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, is a historic church building and congregation at 44 Lake Avenue in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1882, the congregation was Greenwich's first African-American congregation of any denomination, and remains a center of African-American society in the town. Its current church, built in 1921 on the site of its first church, is a good example of Late Gothic Revival architecture, and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.[1]

Little Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Location44 Lake Ave, Greenwich, Connecticut
Coordinates41°1′58″N 73°37′51″W
Area0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built1921 (1921)
ArchitectMeilinggaard, A.N.
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.10000831[1]
Added to NRHPOctober 12, 2010

Architecture and history

The Bethel AME Church is located north of downtown Greenwich, on the south side of Lake Street opposite the Greenwich Hospital campus. It is a single-story structure, with a gabled roof and stucco exterior. A square tower projects from the front left corner, capped by a pyramidal roof with flared eaves. The main entrance is in the base of the tower, sheltered by a gabled portico. Windows on the tower and building facade are lancet-arched in the Gothic style.

The church congregation was founded in 1882, forming what was then the first major focal point for African-American society in the town. The church eventually outgrew its first edifice, built on this site in 1883, and the present church was built in 1921.[2] The congregation continues to be affiliated with the larger African Methodist Episcopal Church.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
  2. "Bethel AME Church honors its past, has faith in its future". Greenwich Times. February 15, 2011. Retrieved 2018-10-05.


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