Last week it was there, this week it’s gone. Allen Chapel is no more. Winchester lost another historic landmark, and the African American community lost part of its cultural heritage.
In February 1866, a few short months after Emancipation, the trustees of a new black congregation acquired a building lot at the corner of East Broadway and Highland Street. The congregation met in a frame structure, the first African American church in Winchester. Their petition to join the new Colored Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church of America was accepted in 1870.
A new brick edifice was erected in 1898. A pipe organ was installed in 1920; a community center and church annex were added in the 1920s; and a new brick parsonage was built in 1962. In 1977, the Kentucky Heritage Commission designated this Gothic Revival church at 105 East Broadway as “National Register eligible.”
Due to an aging congregation and decreasing membership, the church finally closed its doors in 2013. The outlook was promising when First Baptist Church purchased the abandoned building in 2015. There were plans to preserve the old church and repurpose the building as a museum of African American heritage. Under the “Preserving Black Churches” program, federal grants of $200,000 were available to help restore historic black churches.
Over the years, the church fell further into disrepair and repeatedly drew the attention of local code enforcement. Part of the east wall collapsed, and later, the sidewalk in front of the church was closed because of bricks falling out of the front façade. There was one sign of hope for the building. In January 2025, the Blue Grass Trust came to town to film one of their deTours at Allen Chapel CME. In the video, Pastor Marvin King described the importance of preserving this important community resource and the planned restoration project.
Three months later, the old church was on the ground.
