{"nrhp_refnum":"80004607","name":"St. Paul A.M.E. Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"402 W. Edenton St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Raleigh","county":"Wake County","state":"NC","lat":35.78172695100005,"lon":-78.64526161699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-11-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Paul A.M.E. Church is a red brick and wood Gothic Revival church at 402 West Edenton Street in downtown Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina. Construction began in 1884, and the building was rebuilt within its walls after a 1909 fire and rededicated in 1910.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church shows the excellence of black masons' craft in Raleigh, with elaborate brickwork and a vernacular interpretation of Gothic Revival. It was built by the first independent black congregation in Raleigh. Its pastors Henry Eppes, Stewart Ellison and R.W.H. Leak were important in the political and social history of the city and state.","narrative":"St. Paul A.M.E. Church is a red brick and wood Gothic Revival church on a corner lot in downtown Raleigh. Work began in 1884 and continued for decades, funded by a poor congregation whose members gave what they could and in some cases lost their homes to pay for materials. The building was nearly finished in July 1909 when a fire gutted it, and the congregation rebuilt within the surviving walls and rededicated it in 1910. The nearly square auditorium, wooden truss ceiling, gallery and Sunday School wing reflect Protestant adaptations of the Gothic style. Elaborate sawtooth and corbelled brickwork stands in for traditional stone tracery. The congregation, formed from the enslaved members of Edenton Street Methodist Church, joined the African Methodist Episcopal denomination in 1865. The church is recognized for its black-built masonry, its role in Reconstruction-era political gatherings, and pastors who became public figures.","period_of_significance":"1884-1910","architect_builder":"Ellison Leak et. al.","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival (American Gothic Revival)","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a religious structure; described as very well preserved, with repointed mortar and a rebuilt southeast steeple cap, both about 1984.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.980996-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/17/7226/47722617/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/80004607.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004607/67d3a82cf2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80004607/67d3a82cf2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Nicholas Oren Rawlings","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Paul_A.M.E._Church_(Raleigh,_North_Carolina).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nicholas Oren Rawlings</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_A.M.E._Church_(Raleigh,_North_Carolina).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722617","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_A.M.E._Church_(Raleigh,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591217"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wake-county/st-paul-a-m-e-church-80004607/"}