Wesley Methodist Church
National Register Listing
Street Address:
1727 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC (Richland County)
Alternate Name:
Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church; Wesley United Methodist Church
NRHP Nomination
Record Number:
S10817740145
Description and Narrative:
Wesley Methodist Church, built in 1910-11, illustrates the impact of segregation in the lives of African Americans during the Jim Crow era in Columbia. Because it is a historically African-American church, Wesley Methodist Church helps explain religious segregation, particularly within the Methodist denomination. The church is also significant as a good example of Late Gothic Revival church architecture in Columbia in the early twentieth century, and as an excellent example of the work of Columbia architect Arthur W. Hamby. Wesley Methodist Church was founded in 1869 as the Columbia Mission. Their first chapel was built between 1870 and 1873 and was later sold when the Columbia Mission purchased property at the corner of Gervais and Barnwell Streets. In 1910, the Columbia Mission was renamed Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church. Set on a partially subterranean basement that is capped with a stone or cast stone water table, Wesley Methodist Church features a solid brick wall foundation and exterior walls. The primary facade has asymmetrical twin towers, with the taller tower on the east side. The façade is crenellated with stone and brick battlements along the top and at the tops of the towers. Between the two towers is a triple, pointed arch window with tracery, stained glass panels, and a cream-colored limestone drip mold. Each side facade has eight, pointed-arch stained-glass windows with cream-colored sandstone drip molds. A cross-gabled bay transept projects from the building and features a gabled parapet and a large pointed-arch stained-glass window identical to the primary facade. Listed in the National Register January 29, 2009.
Period of Significance:
1910 – 1969;1911
Level of Significance:
Local
Area of Significance:
Social History;Ethnic Heritage: Black;Architecture
National Register Determination:
listed
Date of Certification:
January 29 2009
