{"nrhp_refnum":"80003429","name":"Little Jerusalem AME Church","other_names":["Bensalem"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1200 Bridwater Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cornwells Heights","county":"Bucks County","state":"PA","lat":40.09930981200006,"lon":-74.92358920799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-room, one-and-a-half-story African Methodist Episcopal church with a gable roof in Cornwells Heights, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, built in 1830 on a rubble stone foundation.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is one of the oldest Black churches in the region, tied to the Black community of Bensalem Township from 1820 to 1930 and to Richard Allen, founder of the AME denomination. It states the interior retains original woodwork and hardware despite exterior alterations, and it contains graves of Black Civil War veterans.","narrative":"A one-room frame church with a gable roof, built in 1830 on a low rubble stone foundation in Bensalem Township, Bucks County. The congregation was founded in 1820 and is described as serving most of the Black families living in the township during the period 1820 to 1930. A Sabbath School was established in 1848 so that members could learn to read and write. The nomination links the congregation to Richard Allen, first bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Connection, and says he supervised its establishment and built the pulpit still in the sanctuary. The exterior has been altered, with asbestos shingles added in 1931 and stucco in the 1960s, but the interior retains original woodwork, hardware, and an early pulpit and altar rail. The adjacent cemetery holds graves of Black Civil War veterans and many nineteenth-century members. The church is significant for its association with the early Black community of Bucks County and for its surviving interior.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"The church is still a part of the AME Connection and holds services; exterior covered with asbestos shingles and stucco alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:32.287062-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/80003429.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003429/757536876a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003429/757536876a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BensalemPA_JerusalemAMEChurch.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">User:Magicpiano</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BensalemPA_JerusalemAMEChurch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995158","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Jerusalem_AME_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6650507"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/bucks-county/little-jerusalem-ame-church-80003429/"}