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This congregation began meeting for informal worship services during the early 1870s at the home of Temple Washington. By 1873, the thirteen original members were meeting in their own sanctuary on San Antonio Street. The Rev. Frank Green served as first pastor. While plans were being drawn for a new church building, the original structure burned in 1883. Worship services were temporarily held in Smith's Opera House on W. Sixth Street. By 1884, members of Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church were worshiping in a new building. In 1913, the church moved to a site formerly occupied by the St. John German Evangelical Congregation, and ten years later relocated to this address. The Metropolitan A.M.E. Church has been served throughout its history by many able pastors. The Rev. Abraham Grant, who came to Austin in 1881, led the congregation until 1888, when he became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Dr. William Laws served here during the first years of the twentieth century and was later president of Paul Quinn College. An established part of Austin's Black community for over 100 years, Metropolitan A.M.E. Church continues to uphold the ideals upon which it was founded. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986 |
