Bethel Church Park
by Mike Schaffner
Title
Bethel Church Park
Artist
Mike Schaffner
Medium
Photograph - Photo
Description
Bethel Church Park is a unique city park. It's not a playground or a place to picnic. It's not for hiking, jogging, fishing, or just enjoying nature and being outdoors. Instead, it is a place for quiet reflection, thought and remembrance. The park is designed to pay tribute to Bethel Missionary Baptist Church’s significant history, architecture, and the history of the Fourth Ward.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Bethel Missionary Baptist Church has a storied past. Freed slaves founded the church in 1891 in Houston's historic Freedmen’s Town near downtown. The original wood-frame structure was destroyed in the 1900 "Great Storm". Subsequently, the congregation rebuilt a similar structure which burned in 1920. They rebuilt again, this time with a brick Gothic Revival church, in 1923. To keep up with the growing congregation they expanded the church in 1950. In 1997 the congregation relocated due to the building being declared unsound. In 2005 a fire gutted the church leaving only the front façade and the side walls. Finally, the City of Houston acquired the land and building in 2009, stabilized the walls and began planning a public park, completing it in 2013.
Uploaded
January 9th, 2023
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