Working Benevolent Temple and Professional Building

National Register Listing

Street Address:

Broad and Fall Sts., Greenville, SC (Greenville County)

Alternate Name:

A.M.E. Working Benevolent Temple

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NRHP Nomination

Record Number:

S10817723031

Description and Narrative:

The Working Benevolent Temple and Professional Building is significant for its historic association with the development of Greenville’s black business district and professional activities for fifty years. It was designed, built, and financed by the Working Benevolent State Grand Lodge of South Carolina, a black health, welfare, and burial benefit society. The site was chosen to serve as the administrative offices and headquarters of the lodge, as well as to attract black professionals to Greenville. Built in 1922, it provided offices for black doctors, lawyers, dentists, a newspaper, and insurance firms and housed the first black mortuary in Greenville. The temple was also the center for Greenville’s civil rights activities during the 1960s. The building is a three-story, brick building with a steel superstructure. The first and second floors are of brick laid in common bond; the third floor is laid in Flemish bond with burnt headers. Listed in the National Register July 1, 1982.

Period of Significance:

1922

Level of Significance:

Local

Area of Significance:

Ethnic Heritage: Black

National Register Determination:

listed

Date of Certification:

July 1 1982

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