{"nrhp_refnum":"83000601","name":"Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":["All Souls Unitarian Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"551 Warren St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Boston","county":"Suffolk County","state":"MA","lat":42.312658603000045,"lon":-71.08370043199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Black","Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Tudor-style stone church with an attached parish house at 551 Warren Street in the Roxbury section of Boston, built in 1888-89 to designs by architect J. Williams Beal as All Souls Unitarian Church and now home to the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church.","why_significant":"The church is a major work of architect J. Williams Beal, built of Roxbury puddingstone with Quincy granite trim, and it retains stained glass by John LaFarge and McDonald. Its 1939 purchase by the Charles Street A.M.E. congregation, the last black congregation on Beacon Hill, reflects the movement of Boston's black population to Roxbury. The form cites criteria A and C.","narrative":"Located at 551 Warren Street in Roxbury, this L-shaped church and parish house was designed by Boston architect J. Williams Beal and built in 1888-89 for the Mount Pleasant Congregational Church, which took the name All Souls. Carpenter Melzar W. Allen and mason Alfred Blight worked with Beal on its distinctive features. The walls are Roxbury puddingstone trimmed with Quincy granite, with a crenellated corner tower and a cypress-finished interior featuring an elaborate timber ceiling. Surviving stained glass includes windows by John LaFarge. The building later served a Swedish congregation before the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church bought it in 1939. That congregation, with roots in abolitionist-era meetings on Beacon Hill, was the last black congregation there, and its move reflected the shift of Boston's black population to Roxbury. The building was recognized for its architecture, its history and its use of locally made products.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1888)","architect_builder":"J. Williams Beal, architect; Alfred Blight, mason; Melzar W. Allen, carpenter","architectural_style":"Tudor, combining Gothic Revival and Tudor Revival elements","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in religious use by the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church; condition listed as fair, with new rooms in process or planned below the sanctuary and above the narthex.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:11:57.910666-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/7967/63796734/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/83000601.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000601/9f1d13845b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000601/9f1d13845b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"User:Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:BostonMA_CharlesStreetAMEChurch.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:BostonMA_CharlesStreetAMEChurch.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63796734","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Street_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5082719"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/suffolk-county/charles-street-african-methodist-episcopal-church-83000601/"}