{"nrhp_refnum":"82001441","name":"St.Stephens' AME Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"312 Neil St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Sandusky","county":"Erie County","state":"OH","lat":41.45796988400008,"lon":-82.70319719899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story vernacular frame church at 312 Neil Street in Sandusky, Erie County, Ohio, built in 1879 by men of the congregation for St. Stephen's African Methodist Episcopal Church.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is significant for its part in the history of Sandusky's Black citizens, some of whom arrived very early and others with the growth of the foundries. The congregation formed in 1866 and the 1879 building was erected by congregation members, some of them former slaves. A reviewer also noted it as an example of folk vernacular design important to the Black community.","narrative":"St. Stephen's AME Church is a two-story frame church at 312 Neil Street in Sandusky, Ohio, set on a side street among small houses. Built in 1879, it has a cut stone foundation, asbestos shingle siding, a hipped roof and twin square steeples topped with cross finials. Simple dentil trim runs along the steeple cornices and above the front entrance and second-floor windows, and plain colored glass fills the windows. Double doors are reached by wide steps. The building was raised and moved back from the curb in 1922. The congregation began in 1866 in the rear of Benjamin Brown's home as Stephens Chapel African Episcopal Church. Men of the congregation, some of them former slaves, put up the present building. It is recognized for its role in the history of Sandusky's Black community, which included early settlers and later arrivals drawn by the city's foundries, and as an example of vernacular church design. It remains an active church.","period_of_significance":"1879","architect_builder":"Built by men of the congregation; no architect named","architectural_style":"Vernacular","criteria":[],"status_note":"In use as a church; exterior condition described as good. The building was raised and moved back from the curb in 1922.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.846928-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001441.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001441/ceae65cf1c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001441/ceae65cf1c-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Stephen%27s_AME_Church_in_Sandusky.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Stephen%27s_AME_Church_in_Sandusky.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984982","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Stephen%27s_AME_Church_(Sandusky,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591727"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/erie-county/st-stephens-ame-church-82001441/"}