FormNo 10-300 REV. 191771

UNiTLL, S 1 ATkS 1)kPAKTMENT OF T H E INTERIOR FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES RECEIVER

INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

SEE INSTRUCTIONS IN HOW TO COMPLETENATIONAL REGISTER FORMS TYPE ALL ENTRIES -- COMPLETE APPLICABLE SECTIONS

NAME MOUNT SALEM METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH

AND/OR COMMON

MOUNT SAIEM UNITED PlETHODIST CHURCH - LOCATION

STREET* NUMBER

138 East Fourth street -NOTFOR PUBLICATION

CITY. TOWN CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT New Castle - VIWTY OF

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

Dslawarr New -1 e

CLASSIFICATION CATEGORY OWNERSHIP STATUS

-DISTRICT 4 U B U C S C C U P I E D

~UILCIING~W SPRIVAII -UNOCCUPIED -STRUCTURE -BOTH - W O R K I N PROGRESS -SITE PUBLIC ACQUISITION ACCESSIBLE -0EJECT A N PROCESS 2YES RESTRICTED

-BEING CONSIDERED -YES: UNRESTRICTED

- Y O

PRESENT USE AGRICULTURE --MUSEUM

-COMMERCIAL -PARK

-EDUCATIONAL -PRIVATE RESl

-ENTERIAINMENT L R E U G I W S

-GOVERNMENT -SCIENTIFIC

-INDUSTRIAL -1RANSPORlA

-MILITARY -DTHER

OWNER OF PROPERTY NAME

The Trustees o f Mount Salem Unite- STREET& NUMBER

/ -- --

UTY.TOWN STATE

- VICINITY OF

LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION COURTYOUSE.

REG'STRY0FDEE04ETc Fourth Floor City County Building Recorder o f Deeds STREET & NUMBER

800 French Street UTY.TOWN 0 STATE

Wilminaton rn

a REPRESENTATION IN EXISTING SURVEYS

DATE

-FEDERAL J T A T E -COUNTY L O C A L

DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS - ~N.TOWN STATE

a DESCRIPTION

CONDITION CHECK ONE CHECK ONE XEXCELLENT -DETERIORATED -.UNALTERED XORIGINAL SITE -GOOD _ R U I N S a L T E R E D A O V E D D A T E -FAIR -UNEXPOSED

--- DESCRIBETHE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (IF KNOWN) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

~ o u n t Salem Methodist Episcopal Church (now PIount Salem United ~ e t h o d i s t ) is located at 138 East Fourth Street in the c i t y of New Castle, New cas t le County, Delaware. Mount Salem faces south-east onto Fourth Street. The church is s e t back approximately ten f ee t from Fourth Street and sits one tenth of a mile fm the corner of Fourth and Chestnut Streets. It is bounded to-within four f e e t of its south-west side by nineteenth and twentieth century rowhouses, s e t s l ightly closer t o the s t reet . The church cemetery extends around the north-west and north-east s ides of the church. An empty l o t , six more row- houses, and two twentieth century brick houses f i l l in the r e s t of the s t reet - ecape t o Chestnut Street. Constructed i n 1878, probably by the congregation, Mount Salem Methodist Episcopal Church is a f ine example of very vernacular gothic ecclesiast ical architecture.

Mount Salem is a small building, 30 f ee t by 44 feet . There are three bays across the f ront and sides. The plan of the building is a simple rec- tangle with a smaller rectangular addition made t o the rear of the church at some time after the original construction. This extension ju t s out about eight f ee t from the rear of the building and four f ee t from the south-west side. The church is constructed of red brick in stretcher bond with brick foundation l a id in the sarne pattern. The rear addition is covered by green asphalt shingles.

Three brick steps lead up t o the main entrance, centrally located double doors of wood w i t h s i x molded, recessed panels, two small square panels above four larger rectangular ones. The doors were instal led in 1983 in. . the original pointed archway. The arch over the door is brick, composed of stretchers. The arch keystone is a square stone with a carved fleur-de-lis. There is another entrance on the south-east facade of the rea r extension. This is a t ingle wooden door in a wooden frame with a one pane transom.

To the sides of the m a i n entrance an? two large, stained glass, pointed arch windows. The windars.are inse t in to recessed panels which echo the i r shape. The arches are composed of stretcher bricks like the arch above the main doow. Three s i m i l a r windows l i ne both sides of the church, as well. The recessed p e l s on the sides, however, are rectangular-shaped.

Above the main entrance is a t h M stained glass, pointed arch window, smaller and not inset. Above t h i s window is a rectangular t ab le t on which is carved,"Mount Salem Methodist Episcopal Church Built 1878." There is also a small stained glass, pointed arch window on the north-east side of the rear extension.

See Continuation Sheets.

1JNI~I'l:II S'l'A.l.liS l ~ l . . l ' A l < ~ l ' M l : N ~ ~ OF .l'lll: l N ~ l ' ~ l < l O l < FOR NPS USE ONLY

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM ATE ENTERED

CONTI NUATION SYEET Description ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 1

The large stained g lass windows are composed of two s m a l l square panes sandwiched between four long rectsngular panes. The two smaller windows are composed of only the four long rectangular panes. A l l windows, except the window on the rear extension, axe composed of a mixture of pink, green, yellow, and l i gh t blue colored panes. The extension window has white panes speckled with blue flecks. According t o members of the church, some panes are original while some have been replaced.

The building has a gable roof, with gable facade, made of asphalt shingles. Wooden v e r g e b o d s c w e d in a quatrefoil pattern appear on the facade only. The rear extension has a shed roof.

A smdl be l l cupola straddles the gable ridge toward the facade. The cupola is of wooden construction, about two f e e t high. It is basically a square frame capped by a low pyramidal roof. The be l l i t s e l f is only f i f t y years old, according t o congregation members. A s m a l l , single, brick chimney sits on the north-east s ide interior . It is also capped by a low pyramidal roof.

Tlie in te r io r of the church consists basically of one room, the chapel. A small room was created by the rear extension, used as an office and a choir entrance. There is a lso a foyer a t the church entrance where are located two stairwells. The staimall on the l e f t r i s e s t o the balcony while the ona on the r igh t descends t o the basement.

A balcony stretches across the rear of the chapal, above the front foyer. The w a l l s a d cei l ing of the chapel are plaster, pdnted, and otherwise un- decorated. The cei l ing is f l a t . The basement beneath the church was dug out in 1933 f o r use as a youth center. According t o church members, some original church furniture remains hicluding carved wooden clergy stalls. The sea t s and lower backs of these two chairs are of padded leather. The arms, legs, and upper backs are ra ther ornately carved wood. S p i r a l columns form a pointed arch back f i l l e d in with leaf-like forms. These two pieces have recently been refinished with a wood stain.

Having suffered few and minor al terat ions, the exterior of the church re ta ins its integrity. A few al terat ions have been made t o the in ter ior , according t o the c o w a t i o n , such as re-arranging the choir stalls and purchasing new pews. A wood stove w a s removed from the north-east s ide of of the chapel and modern heating instal led e a r l i e r in the twentieth century. For the most part, however, the chapel also remains intact.

Form No 10.300s 1n.v 10.741

U N I T E D S T A ~ I ~ E S LlLi'AKI'MkNT 01- l ' l i t I N T t K I O K NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

CONTI NUATION SHEET Description ITEM NUMBER 7 PAGE 2

Graves are scattered around the north-west and north-east sides of the church as well as a few graves in the f ront yard. Many of the stones are l igh t ly carved and have become i l l eg ib le over time. Some are simply rough markers and were never inscribed. No records have been kept of burials and so it is impossible t o note when they began taking place. The oldest legible gravestone bezcs the date 1874 and marks the grave of Henry Lilly, one of the firat pastors of Mount Salem. Older and newer gravesites are inter-led. The cemetery is sti l l used today, as is the church i t s e l f , by the present Hount Salem congregation.

Sl GNIFI CANCE

PERIOD -PREHISTOIIIC

-1400-1499

-1500-1690

-1 600- 168s -1700-1796

X1800-1880 -1800-

AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE -- CHECK AND JUSTIFY BELOW ARCHEOLOGY-PREHISTORIC -COMMUNITY PLANNING -UNDSUPEARCUlTECTURE -REUGION ARCHEOLOGY-UISTORIC -CONSERVATION -LAW -SCIENCE AGRICULTURE -ECONOMICS -LITERATURE -SCULPTURE &RCHITECTURE . " -EDUCATION LMIUTARY SOCIAUHUMANITARI A R T , -ENGINEERING -MUSIC -THEATER D M M E R C E . I*PLORATION/SmLEMENT -PHILOSOPHY -TRANSPORTATION -COMMUNICATIONS ANDUSTRY -POUTIWGOVERNMENT -OTHER ISPEUFIJ

ANVENTION

SPECIFIC DATES Built 1878 BUILDEWARCHITECT

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

Mount Salem Methodist Episcopal Church qual i f ies f o r inclusion on the National Register under cri terion "C," architechturdl significance. Mount Salem is a f ine example of very simplified gothic ecclesiast ical architecture, a very vernacular interpretation of A.W. Pugin's "true principles of Christian architecture." The formally untutored black congregation who bu i l t the church in 1878, no doubt unfamiliar with Pugin, John Ruskin, o r the writings of other proponents of the gothic s tgle , simply associated t h i s s ty le with the way a churchsbuld l&. Unfamiliar though they were with the scholastic principles of the gothic s tyle , the Mount Salem congregation nonetheless constructed a church which conforms t o them.

The Mount Salem congregation would have derived the i r ideas of the gothic s ty le from other area interpretations of It. Gothic became popular in America in the.mid-nineteenth century. New Castle, baing a port ci ty, would have been exposed t o the fashions of Wilmington, Philadelphia, and Hew York. The gothic s ty le in America took on very academic forms. The psychology which had originally created gothic belonged t o Medieval Europs, but the nineteenth century h r i c a n s who accepted the s ty l e used it f o r different reasons. They used the ancient motifs in an effort to r e c a l l a period which appeared to them more moral than t h e l r own. Mount Salem is therefore, a very interesting example of the values. symbolism, and complex architectural principles of the gothic s tyle as they had f i l t e red down from the great builders of the Middle Ages t o European scholars and American arbi ters of taste and morality i n the nineteenth century t o a simple congregation of black men i n a small town in Delaware.

Many American gothic buildings were simple i n comparison to European gothic structures due, i n part, t o what Pugin called the "necessities of the American Wilderness." Mount Salem is simpler than most due to the resources, education, s k i l l , and finances, available to the congregation. Both the construction and ornamentation of Mount Salem are quite basic, yet the arch- i tecture does include many of the scholars' most important characteristics. To Pugin, Ruskin, and others, the brick arches, pointed windows, gabled roof, and the solid brick construction would each have been intel lectually pleasing, representing abstract references t o theaesurrection, the Trinity, Christian p l r i ty , and other-worldly symbolism. To the congregation who bu i l t Mount Salem, however, these characteristics signified only a church, gathering place fo r the believers, a house of peace. Mount Salem Methodist

See Continuation Sheets.

LINl'I'I:L) STA'I'ISS L)kI'AKTMtN1'01: THE INTt.I<IOK FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

RECEIVED

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES . , INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

1 CONTI NU ATION SHEET Significance ITEM N U M B E R 8 PAGE

Episcopal Church is the architectural synthesis of centuries of European art, faith, and scholarship, contemporary American tas te and morality, and the f a i t h and experience of blacks in nineteenth century New Castle.

The present building is actually the second structure occupied by the Mount Salem congregation. According t o members of the church, the congregation began i n 1854 when t h i r t y blacks, slaves and freemen, l e f t New Castle Methodist Episcopal Church (now New Castle United Methodist) t o form the i r own church. The separation w a s on fr iendly terms. Whites, frustrated by the vocal nature of the blacks' worship, and the blacks, frustrated by the i r exclusion from communion, mutually agreed upon this move. A white member of New Castle Methodist then b u i l t f o r the Mount Salem their first church in 1856 or 1857, a small white frame building , where the p s e n t building now stands.

This separation w a s not uncommon in the 1850's. Although Delaware did not official ly abolish slavery un t i l a f t e r the C i v i l War, the ins t i tu t ion w a s dying a natural death by the 1 8 4 0 ' ~ ~ especially i n New Castle County. Many black churches w e r e founded at t h i s time. B lacks l e f t other white churches fo r the same reasons the Mount Salem congregation had l e f t New Castle Methodist. Blacks mere usually denied church offices, consigned t o the balconies, and excluded from communion.

Mount Salem is almost unlque compared t o other black churches founded at th i s time, however. Throughout the 1850's and 1 @ 6 O 1 s , two black men, Peter Spencer and Richard Allen, a former slave from Dover, led an exodus of blacks not jus t from white ct~urches but from the white ecclesiast ical organ- izations, the Methodist Conferences, as well. Blacks left the white conferences fo r the same reasons they l e f t the individual churches; blacks were never accorded f u l l priveleges of membership at conferences, never given po l i t i ca l authority, and w e r e , f o r the'most part, ignored altogether. Thus blacks created thei r own organizations and began attending t h e i r own conferences.

Blacks kept basically the same l i turgy and dogma as t ha t i n the white churches, but this separate network affonied them the dignity, independence, and control over t h e i r own sp i r i tua l l i ve s not found within the w h i t e organization. Thus Methodism i n Delaware, prior t o 1850 s p l i t in to the Methodist Episcopals and the Methodist Protestants, w a s now s p l i t even further into the African Methodist Episcopals, the United African Methodist Episcopals, and the African United Methodist Protestants, as well.

UNI1'EI) S'I'A'IES Ulrl'AKI'MLN1'01. I'ltE INTERIOR FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

, . . a , . . : ., , . . , . , :, ,

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INVENTORY --NOMINATION FORM DATE ENTERED .- ::. 5 - ;: ~ , ~ ~ : , . ,,. .,~,

CONTINUATION SHEET Significance ITEM NUMBER 8 PAGE 2

Mount Salem, however, made the unusual decision not t o join t h i s movement. Rather than joining the African Methodist Episcopals, the congregation continued t o send representatives t o the white Methodist Episcopal conference, even though these representatives remained unrecognieed and prierless un t i l t h i s century. The history of Mount Salem, although an unusual one, is there- fore unrecorded by chroniclers of both black and white church histories. Few records were ever kept of black churches within the white conferences and historians of the black conferences would not have written about a black church which w a s not a part of the movement. The congregation themselves never kgpt many records of church transactions either: they had neither the time, resources.nor the skills t o appoint a full-time church secretary o r historian. The present congregation still r e l i e s mainly on o r a l tradition.

Mount Salem began when the first tor , Henry Lilly, w a s deeded some land on Vine Street (now Fourth Street P" by Henry Williamson, also a black man, in 1854. The first building, a frame church costing $500 sufficed for the first twenty years. During t h i s time, the church became incorporated by the State of Delaware i n 1869 and the congregation elected the i r first Board of Trustees.

In 1878, the present building was erected on the same poper ty a t a cost of $2000. Many of the workmen were members of the congregation. Another member of New Castle Methodist Episcopal donated bricks from the brickyard

. at a gasworks then located on Pearl Street. Today th i s property houses a sailing club. The congregation f r o m Mount Salem carried these bricks from th i s property across town t o t he i r l o t on Vine Street. The new building w a s completed and dedicated on December 15, 1878. Mount Salem Methodist Episcopal became Mount Salem United Methodist i n 1939 when-the Methodist Episcopals and Methodist Protestants reunited. Many of the black churches rejoined the whites Bnd Voent Salem i n 1965.

Mount Salem acquired more land fo r the cemetery i n 1879 and again i n 1896. Some gravestones had t o be moved when the first frame.church was replaced by the present brick building in 1878. Henry Lilly's w a s one of those moved forward slightly. Other stones were more dramatically relocated during attempts t o f i l l i n mars* cemetery ground. During one such effor t , stones were mixed-up, and since no records were kept, permanently dislocated. The gravestone of Noah Townsend w a s one such stone. The cemetery, as well as the church, are still used by the present congregation of Mount Salem.

' UNIl'EL, S'TAI'ES ULI'AK1'MEN.T 01- .I'HE INTEHIOH

FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PARK SERVICE I ~ ~ ~ & ' E I J ~ . ~ . . ' ~ : , 1. ., . , , :. ,: ., ,> ?. :.%..fif(:!:: ! . ; . : , :.. . NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC P'UCES , . .* G . 2 i r i : . . . ::is ; .. .

DATEENTERED . . . ' - .'. '!' ;. ?. . . . ' INVENTORY --NOMINATION FORM

CONTINUATION SHEET Significance ITEM NUMBER PAGE 3

The Mount Salem congregation of 1878 constructed a gothic church which conforms t o academic principles of which they were unaware. The architectural characteristics of the building are simple i n comparison to most gothic structures due t o the needs and resourcesof the church builders but they otherwise conform t o stated principles. As an architectural expression of the legacy l e f t by one age t o another, as an interpretation of that legacy, and as an expression of the values, needs, and experiences from which tha t interpretation was made, Mount Sdem Methodist Church stands as a monument t o the synthesis between the ideologies which created and revived the gothic s ty l e with the r ea l i t y of the blacks' experience in nineteenth century New Castle.

~ M A J U K LIlSLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES Coger, Rebecca. Interview with Annette Woolard. New Castle, Delaware. October 25, 1983, Cooper, C. " A Tom Among Cities: New Castle 1780-1840." Doctoral Dissertation.

University Of Delaware. Morris Library. 1983. "Delaware Churches: The Colored Churches of Delaware." Vertical File. Wilmington

Public Library. Garnett, Wdia. Interview with Annette Woolard. New cast le , Delaware. November 6, 1983. %P F-3-n *o+

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA ACRE4GE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY

QUADRANGLE NAME QUADRANGLESCALE UTM REFERENCES

A W ! & I I I ' I F I I ~ J NORTHING

G ~ I I I I I I J L I I I I I I ~ VERBAL BOUNDARY DESCRIPTION

H W L J - I L L ~ W Located on Fourth Street between Harmony and Chestnut Streets, Mount Salem property,

including the cemetery, extends f r o m the fence four f ee t from the south-west elevation t o boundary markers a t a 45 w l e t o Fourth Street on north-east edge of cemetery.

LIST ALL STATES AND COUNTIES FOR PROPERTIES OVERLAPPING STATE OR COUNTY BOUNDARIES

STATE CODE' COUNTY CODE

STATE CODE COUNTY CODE

FORM PREPARED BY NAME I TITLE

Annette Woolard- Graduate Student History Departmen* ORGANIZATION DATE

University of Eelaware STREET& NUMBER December 9, 1983 TELEPHONE

CITY OR TOWN STATE

m . STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFF1 CER CERTIFICATION

THE EVALUATED SIGNIFICANCE OFT HIS PROPERTY WITHIN THE STATE IS:

NATIONAL- STATE- LOCAL - As the designated State Historic Preservation Ofticerfor the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 IPuMic Law 89-665). 1 hereby nominate this propeny for inclusion in the National Register and certify that it has been evaluated according to the crneria and procedures set fonh by the National Park Service.

STATE HISTORICPRESERVATION OFFICER SIGNATURE

TITLE DATE

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T Form No 10.100. Iksv 1D.741

' UNl' l I i0 S'SA'I'ES 1)LI'AR'SMLN'l'O1'1'HE INTtHIOH FOR NPS USE ONLY NATIONAL PAHK SERVICE . .

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY -- NOMINATION FORM

CONTI N U ATION SHEET Bibliography ITEM NUMBER 9 PAGE 1

Hammett, R.W. Architecture in the United States. John Wiley and Sons: Hew York. 1976. Henry, Edward. Interview with Annette Woolard. New C a s t l e , Delaware, November 1, 1983 Historical Bibliographical Enc c lo d i a of Delaware. Aldine Publishing and

Engraving Company: Wilmington. =-d? 18 2 Huston, John. Interview with Annette Woolard. New Castle, Delaware. December 8. 1983. . Pugin, A.M. The h u e Principles of Christian Architecture. H.G. Bohnr London. 1853. Reed, H.C. A History of the F i r s t State. Iewis H. Publishing Co. Inc.: New

York. 1947. 7 . - Records.of Membership. New Castle Methodist Episcopdl Church. 1830-1850. New

Castle Public Library. Robertson, Violet. Interview with Annette Woolard. New Castle, Delaware. October 17, 1 Ruskin, John. ~ ~ a t u r e of Gothic. Garland Publishing Co., 1nc.r New York. 1977. Scharf, J.T. History of Delaware. L.J. Richaxds and CO.: Philadelphia. 1888. Whiff en, Marcus. Amerzan Architecture Since 1780. M. I. T. Press 8 Cambridge,

M a s s a c h u s e t t s ~ Zebley, Frank. Churches of Delaware. F.R. Zebleya Wilmington. 1942.