St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church

St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic African Methodist Episcopal church building located at Fayetteville Street and Durham Expressway in the Hayti District, now a neighborhood of Durham, Durham County, North Carolina.

St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church
LocationFayetteville St. and Durham Expwy., Durham, North Carolina
Coordinates35°59′11″N 78°53′53″W
Area1.5 acres (0.61 ha)
Built1891
ArchitectLeary, Samuel L.
Architectural styleLate Victorian, Eclectic
NRHP reference No.76001319[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 11, 1976

Started soon after the American Civil War by black workers, the Hayti District became a well-developed and self-sufficient black community, complete with a variety of businesses and services, including theatre, hospital and hotel.[2]

The church was built in 1891, by a congregation that had organized in 1869, brought together in meetings in a "brush arbor" organized by Edian Markham, a former slave and AME missionary. After building a couple of wooden structures, the congregation raised money for this brick church, including funds donated by white philanthropists.[3][4]

Edian Markham is buried in Geer Cemetery.

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.[1]

It is now used by the St. Joseph Historic Foundation as the Hayti Heritage Centre for cultural and community activities.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Washington, Booker T. "Durham, North Carolina, A City of Negro Enterprises," The Booker T. Washington Papers, Volume 11: 1911-12. Louis R. Harlan and Raymond W. Smock, eds. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1981. pp. 56-64
  3. Louis Allston, "The History of St. Joseph’s AME Church and the St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation", St. Joseph Historic Foundation, 2012, accessed 19 June 2012
  4. Mary Alice Hinson and John B. Flowers III (April 1976). "St. Joseph's African Methodist Episcopal Church" (pdf). National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory. North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office. Retrieved 2014-10-01.


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