Bethel AME Church, Columbia

Founded by freedmen after the Civil War, Bethel AME Church relocated to Sumter Street in 1921.  John Anderson Lankford, one of the first registered Black architects in the United States, designed the Romanesque Revival brick structure.  Bethel boasted one of the largest black congregations in Columbia throughout the 20th century.  The building was the site of numerous mass meetings and planning sessions during the 1960s civil rights movement.

KEYWORDS: ROMANESQUE REVIVAL BRICK, JOHN LANKFORD, AME CHURCH, COLUMBIA, RICHLAND COUNTY