Mount Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church (Palestine, Texas)

Mount Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark
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Location	913 E. Calhoun St., Palestine, Texas
Coordinates	31°46′5″N 95°37′22″W / 31.76806°N 95.62278°W / 31.76806; -95.62278Coordinates: 31°46′5″N 95°37′22″W / 31.76806°N 95.62278°W / 31.76806; -95.62278
Area	less than one acre
Built	1921
Architect	Rountree, J.B.
Architectural style	Late Gothic Revival
MPS	Palestine, Texas MPS
NRHP Reference #	98000635[1]
RTHL #	8782
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	June 03, 1998
Designated RTHL	1986

Mount Vernon African Methodist Episcopal Church is a historic church at 913 East Calhoun Street in Palestine, Texas. It is the third oldest AME church in Texas. The church was organized by freedmen in the early 1870s. The congregation originally worshiped at a church that it shared with Missionary Baptist Church. In 1878 the church bought 2.2 acres at its present location and constructed a wood frame structure in 1885. In 1921 the structure was razed and a new church designed in a Gothic vernacular style was built. The church's two front bell towers are typical of the AME faith-based churches of the 1920s. Mount Vernon was the first church to introduce Palestine to integrated low-income apartment housing. In 1968 a 100-unit apartment housing project was erected at 2020 Sterne Avenue. In 1985 the church received a Texas Historical Marker. In 1988 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The church closed its doors in 2014. In 2015 Mount Vernon placed on Preservation Texas' Most Endangered places list.

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