Asbury United Methodist Church | |
Location | Eleventh and K Sts. NW Washington, D.C. |
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Coordinates | 38°54′8″N 77°1′39″W / 38.90222°N 77.02750°W |
Area | 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) |
Architect | Harding, Clarence Lowell |
Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival, English Gothic Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 86003029 [1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 01, 1986 |
Designated DCIHS | March 21, 1984 |
Asbury United Methodist Church, founded in 1836 as Asbury Chapel, is the oldest black United Methodist church in Washington, D.C.
Located on the corner of 11th and K Streets Northwest, it was placed on the District of Columbia Register of Historic Places on November 1, 1986. [2] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. In 2003, the National Park Service approved the listing of Asbury on the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom. [3]
Founded in 1836, the church was a pioneer of African-American Methodism in Washington, D.C., and of social history through abolition, Emancipation, Reconstruction, and the Civil Rights movement. It is the city's oldest African-American church to remain on its original site. [2] A new building on the same site was completed in 1870. [4] The current building was designed by Clarence Lowell Handing and built in 1915–1916 in the English Gothic Revival architectural style. [5]
In the 1920s, the building had alterations by African American architect, William Wilson Cooke. [6] [7]
In December 2020, the congregation's Black Lives Matter banner was burned during an event for President Donald Trump, an action the congregation's senior pastor described as "reminiscent of cross burnings". [8] In January 2021, Enrique Tarrio, chairman of the Proud Boys, was arrested in relation to the incident. [9]
On July 15, 2021, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced Asbury United Church as one of 40 sites and organizations to receive $3 million in grants from the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. [10] The grant is to be used for repairs to the church’s wood windows and bell tower masonry, as well as repointing and cleaning of its stone facade.