St. John's-In-The-Prairie, now known as St. John's Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church in Forkland,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States.

History

The congregation was organized in 1834 by Caleb Ives, a pioneer missionary, and was admitted to parish status in 1838. The first rector was the Rev. John Avery. The wooden

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

structure was built in 1859 on a Southern plantation to the designs of

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-American architect who immigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to popula ...

. It was a Methodist church, built on a Southern plantation south of

Greensboro Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina, af ...

in the

Antebellum South The ''Antebellum'' South era (from ) was a period in the history of the Southern United States that extended from the conclusion of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. This era was marked by the prevalent practic ...

.John Archibald
See what's inside the mystery church in Alabama's Black Belt
''The Birmingham News'', July 15, 2015 After the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

of 1861–1865, the Methodist planter had lost most of his assets. He ran afoul of the

Methodist Episcopal Church, South The Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MEC, S; also Methodist Episcopal Church South) was the American Methodist denomination resulting from the 19th-century split over the issue of slavery in the Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC). Disagreement ...

after he built a saloon from the ruins of his plantation house. As a result, he decided to convert the congregation to an Episcopal church and move the building across the

Black Warrior River The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the ...

to its present location in 1878. Others suggest he had sold alcohol to the Union Army and moved to flee veterans of the

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

. As of 2017, the church still has several congregants.

Heritage significance

It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on November 20, 1975.

References

External links

* National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Alabama Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Alabama Churches completed in 1859 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Episcopal church buildings in Alabama Carpenter Gothic church buildings in Alabama Buildings and structures in Greene County, Alabama Historic American Buildings Survey in Alabama 1859 establishments in Alabama {{Alabama-Anglican-church-stub