Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 200 Sixth Street, Richmond, Wayne County, IN

Significance: Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (Bethel A.M.E.) Church was founded in 1836 by William Paul Quinn, nationally prominent Afro Methodist minister. It is the oldest Afro Methodist congregation in Indiana. The structure was erected in 1854 by the German Methodist Church, transferred to the Hicksite Friends in 1857, and became the property of Bethel A.M.E. Church in 1868. Since Richmond was a stonghold in Indiana for free blacks during the nineteenth century, the church served as a social, cultural, educational as well as religious center for the black community. Originally, the building was simply appointed with classical details. In 1892, it was remodeled and enlarged by the Bethel A.M.E. congregation, transforming it to a more ornate structure of Romanesque Revival and neo-classical character. The structure is representative of the black community's affluence in the late nineteenth century and is an important symbol of the black man's status.
Survey number: HABS IN-112
Building/structure dates: 1854 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1892 Subsequent Work