St. Paul A.M.E. Church

St. Paul A.M.E. Church is a historic African Methodist church whose congregation was founded c.1867. The church building was erected in 1892 and was designed combining Gothic and Romanesque architectural styles. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

After the Civil War, local African Americans from Baptist and Methodist churches decided to form a single congregation called The African Union Church. However, it only lasted about a year. Then around 1867, First A.M.E. Church—the predecessor to St. Paul—was established. The congregation built its first church in 1868 and it was located at Fourth and Ash Streets. In 1890, the congregation sold the church building and bought the property on which it would be the current church. It was also at this time that the congregation changed its name to St. Paul A.M.E. The present church building was constructed two years later.

Laubach, Elizabeth. "Historic downtown St. Paul A.M.E. Church celebrates 145th anniversary." March 26, 2012. https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/historic-downtown-st-paul-a-m-e-church-celebrates-th/article_b62516e9-656e-56b9-8df4-ad10f8fa99c1.html.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul_A.M.E._Church_(Columbia,_Missouri)#/media/File:StPaulAME.JPG