St. John’s AME Church, Norfolk, Virginia

The congregation “began as an outreach effort around 1800 by the Cumberland Street Methodist Church, obtained its independence during the Civil War in 1863 and joined the A.M.E. connection in 1864. Thereafter, the congregation through its own efforts managed to erect what was then the largest black church edifice in Norfolk. They have taken an active role in Virginia A.M.E. affairs ever since.” —  National Register of Historic Places – Final Nomination Form – St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church – Norfolk Virginia – #122-0211

The illustration above is from Our Twin Cities of the Nineteenth Century (Norfolk and Portsmouth): Their Past, Present, and Future by Robert W. Lamb (1888).

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