{"nrhp_refnum":"84000169","name":"Allen Chapel AME Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"116 Elm St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Worth","county":"Tarrant County","state":"TX","lat":32.759149551000064,"lon":-97.32751709399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-10-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story yellow pressed-brick church on a raised basement at 116 Elm Street, just east of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, built in 1914 and designed by William Sidney Pittman in a modified Tudor Gothic Revival style.","why_significant":"The church is significant for its architecture and for its role in the religious and social life of Fort Worth's black community. It was designed by nationally known black architect William Sidney Pittman and is arguably his most successful known work in Texas. It has kept its original ownership and function and has remained substantially unaltered.","narrative":"Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church is a two-story yellow-brick sanctuary on a raised basement, set on Elm Street just east of downtown Fort Worth. Completed in 1914 to designs by black architect William Sidney Pittman, it uses Tudor Gothic Revival detailing, including lancet windows, a bell tower and large art-glass windows, one depicting Moses on Mount Sinai. Two entrances emerge from the sides of the altar area, and the interior retains a 1911 Estey pipe organ. The congregation traces its origins to 1870 and is one of the city's oldest black congregations. Members funded the new building by donating Christmas savings in 1912, and it replaced an earlier red-brick chapel. Most black churches in Texas of the period were modest frame buildings, so its size and sophistication set it apart. Pittman, a son-in-law of Booker T. Washington, practiced in Texas for sixteen years, and this church is considered his most successful surviving work in the state. It remains in worship use and largely unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"William Sidney Pittman, Architect; William Reed & Sons, Contractor","architectural_style":"Modified Tudor Gothic / Gothic Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church; condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.07729-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/84/9734/40973484/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/84000169.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000169/b58af76fc1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84000169/b58af76fc1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Renelibrary","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AllenAME1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Renelibrary</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:AllenAME1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40973484","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Chapel_AME_Church_(Fort_Worth,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4731576"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/tarrant-county/allen-chapel-ame-church-84000169/"}