Santa Barbara’s First Black Church Named Historic Landmark
Edhat Staff
August 12, 2020, 11:51 am
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By edhat staff
The Santa Barbara City Council agreed to recognize St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church as a historic landmark during Tuesday’s meeting.
The unanimous decision comes on the heels of the Black Lives Matter movement with local community leaders demanding the city recognize and preserve Santa Barbara’s Black History.
The 502 Olive Street church has been considered by the Historic Landmarks Commission as a potential historic landmark since 2018 and was added to the resource list in 1990. Within the past few months, the commission received nearly 700 letters from the community asking for the church to be recognized.
Founded in 1903, St. Paul’s AME Church’s current building was not officially built until 1916 with the high steeple looking over the eastside . The “Carpenter’s Gothic style” is one of the few styles remaining in Santa Barbara. These structures adapted Gothic elements such as pointed arches, steep gables, and towers to traditional American light-frame construction.
St. Paul’s AME now officially joins the City of Santa Barbara’s 133 historic landmarks.
Written by Edhat Staff
