National Register of Historic Places

St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church

Norfolk (Independent City), Norfolk County, Virginia
Listed
December 4, 1986
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
86003441

About this property

St. John's AME Church is a historic congregation of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1840, it was the first African American Episcopal Church in Virginia. It moved to its present location on East Bute Street in what is now Downtown Norfolk in 1848. The historic church building was built in 1888, a red brick structure in the Richardsonian Romanesque style with a large, heavy and steeply pitched slate roof and two flanking towers. The building features a centered stone entrance portico, containing the main entrance to the church. The portico is built of light grey freestone in a style reminiscent of the ambulatory of a Romanesque abbey and consists of two large openings headed by semi-circular arches. The building houses a large sanctuary and horseshoe-shaped balcony with a seating capacity of 1,500 people. Also on the property is the contributing parsonage; a 2½-story, four-bay, brick dwelling in a simplified Second French Empire style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Location

539--545 E. Bute St.
Norfolk (Independent City), Norfolk County, Virginia
36.85179, -76.28240

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

First Baptist Church
Industrial
0.1 mi
Norfolk Academy
Industrial
0.1 mi
Willoughby-Baylor House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Freemason Street Baptist Church
Early Republic
0.3 mi
Queen Street Baptist Church
Industrial
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church listed on the National Register?

St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 4, 1986.

What type of historic resource is St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church?

St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church?

The period of significance for St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church is recorded as the industrial era.

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