St. Stephen UMC added to national historic registry
From Senator Steve Jarvis’ Raleigh Report:
St. Stephen United Methodist Church is locally significant under Criterion A for African American ethnic heritage. The congregation has played an important role in the religious, social, and political life of Lexington’s Black residents from its formation in 1868 until the present. The 1921 construction of a new sanctuary and reuse of the 1892 sanctuary as a classroom wing manifest the congregation’s resilience, growth, and prosperity. St. Stephen UMC is the oldest Black congregation in the Lexington District of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church, and is further distinguished by occupying Lexington’s oldest extant African American sanctuary of any denomination.
Throughout the twentieth century, the congregation undertook community service projects and during the 1960s, the church became a forum for civil rights movement meetings and planning sessions. St. Stephen UMC is also significant under Criterion C for architecture as an intact example of Colonial Revival-style early- to mid-twentieth-century ecclesiastical architecture. The sanctuary has a traditional front-gable form and a projecting pyramidal-roofed entrance and bell tower.
In addition to its symmetry, Colonial Revival stylistic elements include round- and flat-arched door and window openings, double-hung stained-glass windows with foliate and geometric motifs. The interior contributes to the overall high integrity. St. Stephen UMC meets Criteria Consideration A as it derives its primary significance from its architectural style and historical association with Lexington’s African American community. The period of significance begins with the 1921 expansion and remodeling and continues until 1971.
- NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources
