{"nrhp_refnum":"02001298","name":"Bethel African American Episcopal Church of Monongahela City","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. 7th and Main Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Monongahela City","county":"Washington County","state":"PA","lat":40.20716848600006,"lon":-79.93167099899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-11-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Gothic Revival brick church at the corner of West Main and Seventh Streets in Monongahela City, Washington County, Pennsylvania, with a three-bay sanctuary, a Sunday School wing, and a tower with a wood steeple.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is an outstanding example of Gothic Revival design and is associated with builder John Blythe. It also argues the congregation, founded in 1833, was the central social and educational institution for the town's African American community from the nineteenth century into the mid-twentieth century.","narrative":"Built of handmade brick on a corner lot on West Main Street in Monongahela City, the church was begun in 1871 to plans attributed in the nomination to local builder John Blythe. Its sanctuary, pointed-arched stained glass windows, slate roof and tower with a tall wood steeple make it a modest but carefully detailed Gothic Revival building. The congregation, organized in 1833, was the first permanent African American institution in the eastern half of Washington County and had served as the town's main church for its Black community since the 1870s. The building hosted religious services, schooling, social gatherings and community dinners, and it was a place where African American and white residents met. The congregation's members also included many of the area's oldest Black families, and its college-bound young people were prominent in the 1940s through 1970s. The interior was completed in 1894, and the steeple was rebuilt after a lightning strike in 1987.","period_of_significance":"1871-1952","architect_builder":"John Blythe (architect/builder)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:35.872406-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/02001298.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001298/6609363102-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02001298/6609363102-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bethel_AME_in_Monongahela.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bethel_AME_in_Monongahela.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996588","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Monongahela_City","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4897851"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/washington-county/bethel-african-american-episcopal-church-of-monongahela-city-02001298/"}