{"nrhp_refnum":"12001042","name":"St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"703 Merchant St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Coatesville","county":"Chester County","state":"PA","lat":39.987656635000064,"lon":-75.81135553399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-12-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church is a Stick-style frame church at 703 Merchant Street in the East End of Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania, dated 1894 by a date stone. It was moved to a stone foundation on its current lot that year, having been donated by a local Episcopal congregation.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant under Criterion A for its role in the African American community of Coatesville, including its congregation's work on education, social services, and civil rights from the early twentieth century onward. It describes the congregation as the first AME congregation established in the city's black community, with roots in Hayti, Valley Township, before 1864. The church is treated as a religious property whose primary importance lies in its social and civic role.","narrative":"Stick-style frame church at 703 Merchant Street in Coatesville's East End, built and dated 1894 and set on a stone foundation after being moved to the lot that year. The building, now clad in stucco, has a steep gable roof, a projecting gable-roofed entrance vestibule with bracketed sides, and peaked Gothic-style windows on the north apse end. The St. Paul congregation, incorporated in 1882, traces its roots to an earlier AME congregation in Hayti, Valley Township, by 1864 and bought its Merchant Street lot in 1882. The church is significant for its role in the African American community of Coatesville and Chester County. Its members ran youth education and food and support programs, and after a 1938 racial incident the church hosted meetings that led to a local NAACP chapter. Congregants also supported later civil rights actions, including bus trips to Washington, voter registration, and a 1973-75 class action over discrimination at Lukens Steel Company.","period_of_significance":"1894-1962","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Stick","criteria":["A"],"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 17:10:27.039488-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/12001042.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001042/ed8c238bfe-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12001042/ed8c238bfe-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Hshuvaeva","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Paul_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church,_Coatesville,_PA_02.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Hshuvaeva</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Paul_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church,_Coatesville,_PA_02.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995087","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Coatesville,_Pennsylvania)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q115802330"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/chester-county/st-paul-african-methodist-episcopal-church-12001042/"}