April 2026.
St. Paul A.M.E. (African Methodist Episcopal) is the oldest Black congregation in Columbus. Surprisingly, there isn’t very much history about it available on it online, nor is it listed on the National Register of Historic Places or the Columbus Register of Historic Properties. I guess the building isn’t super significant architecturally, but it surely has historic significance.
The building is located at 639 East Long Street in the Discovery District neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. It is bordered by Long Street and its annex to the north, the Jefferson Avenue Historic District to the south, Lester Drive and I-71 to the east, and Jefferson Avenue to the west.
History
The congregation that is now known as St. Paul A.M.E. was founded in 1823 as the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. It seems like the Black Methodists in Columbus originally worshiped at the Town Street Methodist Episcopal Church, though they left to form their own congregation. Its original members included founder Moses Freeman and 13 others. Parishioners rented rooms to worship in at first, but they built a log cabin on Lazelle Street in 1824, and a brick church at 71 East Long Street was completed in 1841.
During the Civil War, Ohio saw many Black migrants from the South. With the increased population in Columbus, St. Paul’s purchased a new lot across long street, and they completed their larger church in 1872 at a cost of $14,000. The older brick church was sold to Shiloh Baptist. A public school intended for Black children opened soon after, which was also apparently the first of its kind in Columbus.
1955 photo of the exterior. (Columbus Metropolitan Library)
As Columbus’s Black population moved east in the early 20th century, St. Paul’s had to follow. The church’s current site was purchased in 1905 for $6,000, and the building was constructed in 1906 at a cost of $40,000. It is a Romanesque Revival design, though a simpler one with a (formerly) gray brick exterior and sandstone trim.
The church’s annex across Long Street was purchased in 1962, which was renovated into classrooms and offices for the church. It was apparently painted pastel colors, too. It remains the only formerly commercial building on that stretch of Long Street west of 71 for several blocks, as the rest have been demolished for parking long ago. The church was renovated in 1971, which included painting and modernizing the basement.
The most recent modification to the church is the construction of CCAD’s Small Business Development Center next door, which seems to have been completed circa 2000. It doesn’t seem to be connected to the historic church, and it clashes with it both in scale and stylistically.
Photos
North facade of the church:
Luckily, the stone remains unpainted, but most of the bricks have been painted a shade of matte red.
Angled view from the corner:
The two towers add a touch of asymmetry, though the rest of the church has a common Latin cross plan. Notice how squat and sturdy this church appears versus the lightness of Gothic Revival architecture.
Vaulted entrance:
This attempts to mimic the grand triple portal of Romanesque cathedrals, but only one opening is actually enterable.
I always like the moment where a smaller and larger arch meet, even if it’s just simple brickwork here:
Note the sandstone capitals, though.
Arched windows inside the vestibule, which lack the gross plastic sheeting:
The smaller tower:
One of the windows, which uses brickwork to mimic a bifora:
The towers have corbelled patterns that allow them to flare outward a bit at the top, too:
The taller tower:
The square, low-pitch hipped roofs on them are interesting to me, too.
A little tough to see with the railing, but the stone water table beneath the tower is engraved with the church’s date of construction:
Belfry:
Large rose window:
The arched nature of this area is emphasized with the decorative border. I always find the acrylic covering stained glass to be an unfortunate alteration, especially when it ages and gets foggy/cracks.
The original gray brick is coming through on some areas, and the eaves have their paint chipping as well:
More arch-y goodness:
The art glass windows seem to be in good repair, too.
Looking west at the tall tower:
Two of the bays, which have large bifora windows and a buttress between:
The transept is largely flat, but it has a circle of bricks on it to suggest a rose window. I was laughing that there was a Christmas wreath up in February.
Offices/rectory in rear, which have more regular vaulted windows:
The 2000s addition:
It just has a very generic, cheap appearance to it. It looks like a big-box grocery store or an apartment complex. I really despise this kind of 2000s-era, Postmodern-ish design.
The annex:
This was once a Commercial style building that dates to the early 20th century, probably some mom-and-pop shop with apartments above. The one-story portion at left may have been built by St. Paul’s in the 60s.
What was once a populated commercial and residential area has been leveled for a parking lot:
Just three homes line this part of Jefferson Avenue, and the rest are long gone for crappy mid-century apartments and parking lots. It’s really a crime how much historic architecture Columbus has demolished.
While I was out and about, I actually ran into St. Paul’s pastor, Pastor Meyer. We briefly spoke and he mentioned he was from South Africa, but he didn’t linger. It’s pretty unusual for me to run into the owners or users of a building while I’m putzing around.
Sources:
https://stpaulamecolumbusohio.net/
https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/african/id/22673/
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