184 Kelley Street
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Last updated July 15, 2024
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Directions from Dallard-Newman House to site 17:
The historic Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (Bethel AME Church) was built in 1893 on land provided by Ambrose and Harriet Dallard. Before the church became the Bethel AME Church in 1919, it was originally called the Bethel United Brethren in Christ Church that was organized in 1876 at the home of Reverend A.H. Wells. Ambrose worked with church members on the construction of the church.
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In 1879, Ambrose Dallard and others purchased land to form a “Colored United Brethren in Christ Church” and cemetery but failed. In 1892, there was a second attempt by Dallard and his son-in-law, George A. Newman. They invited freed-born African American, preacher, and Brethren’s Virginia Conference member, Theodore K. Clifford, to help organize a congregation. They held their first meeting on November 12, 1892, at the Newman residence, where they began to plan the construction of the church building. The congregation raised funding for the church through community events and held “brush meetings” for its members. After the church opened for service, the church struggled to keep ministers. The church closed in 1909, and many members joined the John Wesley Methodist Church. The African Methodist Episcopal Church acquired the church building in 1919. This is the oldest African American church in Harrisonburg, and it is active today.
Reference
“115 -5132 Bethel AME Church and Dallard-Newman House Historic District,” The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, last updated 30 Jan 2024, accessed 3 June 2024, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/115-5132/.
“Bethel AME Church,” Simms, accessed 26 Aug 2024, https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/simms/items/show/1640.
“History of Kelley Street United Brethran in Christ Church, Newtown, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1892-1906, Ledger Entries by George A. Newman and others,” Edited and transcribed by Ruth M. Toliver, (1998).
“115 -5132 Bethel AME Church and Dallard-Newman House Historic District,” The Virginia Department of Historic Resources, last updated 30 Jan 2024, accessed 3 June 2024, https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/115-5132/.
“Bethel AME Church,” Simms, accessed 26 Aug 2024, https://omeka.lib.jmu.edu/simms/items/show/1640.
“History of Kelley Street United Brethran in Christ Church, Newtown, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1892-1906, Ledger Entries by George A. Newman and others,” Edited and transcribed by Ruth M. Toliver, (1998).
