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ORCHARD STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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1882, Frank E. Davis; 1990s restored. 512 Orchard St.
  • (HABS)
  • (Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie)

One of the oldest churches in Baltimore built by an African American congregation, Orchard Street Methodist was founded by former enslaved person Trueman Pratt in 1837. Growth of the free Black community in the neighborhood during the aftermath of the Civil War created the need for a new and larger sanctuary. Baltimore architect Davis designed a handsome red brick Romanesque-influenced church with barrel-vaulted interior supported by exposed carved trusses and ornate Corinthian columns. First known as Metropolitan United Methodist, the church served as a center of Black life in segregated West Baltimore. The fate of the church was uncertain after the congregation moved out in 1972, and vandals and fire damaged the building. By the 1990s the church was restored by the Greater Baltimore Urban League, and it continues to serve its surrounding neighborhood.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie
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Data

Timeline

  • 1882

    Built

  • 1972

    Vacated

  • 1990

    Restored

What's Nearby

ST. MARY’S SEMINARY CHAPEL
FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
FIRST AND FRANKLIN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH) AND MANSE
DECATUR MILLER ROW HOUSE
G. KRUG AND SON IRONWORKS AND MUSEUM

Citation

Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie, "ORCHARD STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH", [Built, Maryland], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MD-01-BC99.

Print Source

Buildings of Maryland, Lisa Pfueller Davidson and Catherine C. Lavoie. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2022, 211-211.

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