{"nrhp_refnum":"04000422","name":"Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"902 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lincoln","county":"Logan County","state":"IL","lat":40.14671693300005,"lon":-89.35936551999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-05-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, brick, gable-front church at 902 Broadway, at the corner of Broadway and Sherman, in Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois. It was built in 1880 by an unknown builder for an African American AME congregation founded in 1868.","why_significant":"The church is significant locally under Criterion A as a community center for African Americans in Lincoln. Before the Civil Rights movement, Black churches served as places for worship, political meetings, children's education and mutual support during segregation. The period of significance runs from the 1880 construction to 1954.","narrative":"Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is a small brick church at 902 Broadway in Lincoln, Illinois, two blocks from the Logan County courthouse. Built in 1880, it is a one-story, rectangular, gable-front building with pointed Gothic-arched window openings and a low-pitched asphalt shingle roof. The cornerstone reads 1868, the year the congregation was founded. Inside, a single open room keeps its plaster walls, wainscot, balustrade at the altar and original wood-paneled ceiling above a dropped acoustic ceiling. The church was listed for its role as a community center for Lincoln's African American residents. Logan County's Black population was small, and the nomination describes a community that lived largely apart from white residents. In that setting the church offered more than worship, serving as a place for political meetings, education and mutual support during segregation. The period of significance spans 1880 to 1954. The congregation still uses the building for worship.","period_of_significance":"1880 - 1954","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"OTHER: gable front","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility. It has had no additions, and the original windows have been replaced with aluminum sashes in the original frames.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.034525-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/8934/28893491/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/04000422.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000422/d59fd5a6b4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000422/d59fd5a6b4-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allen_Chapel_AME,_Lincoln.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allen_Chapel_AME,_Lincoln.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893491","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Chapel_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Lincoln,_Illinois)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14687373"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/logan-county/allen-chapel-african-methodist-episcopal-church-04000422/"}