Well this will be a quickie as it is a church from the 1957 Church Survey that provides no information. To learn more about the 1957 Church Survey read my previous posts, The Uniqueness of the 1957 Church Survey and Church Survey Northwest Urban Renewal Area October 1957.
Holy Trinity sat at 1618 11th Street NW, square 309, lot 817. It’s not there anymore.
This is part of a series where I look at churches that were surveyed in the 1957 Northwest Urban Renewal Area Church Survey. No other survey has been done since.
Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church sat at 1308 Vermont Ave NW in Logan Circle. In 1957 it was one of the two predominately African American Lutheran churches in the city. It’s current address is 1306 Vermont Ave NW.
So what was Mt. Olivet like in 1957? It had about 700 members who were mostly white collar workers. A small percentage of members lived in the Northwest Urban Renewal Area (see map above). In the document below, it shows that 85% lived in the rest Continue reading 1957 Church Survey- Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church
Over the past few years I have been publishing bits and pieces of the 1957 Church Survey [of the] Northwest Urban Renewal Area on this site. This was a very unique survey and it was not repeated again.
The 1957 survey was a look at churches in what was the Northwest Urban Renewal area. This area’s boundaries were roughly, starting at the southern border I and 15th Street to NY Ave to Mt. Vernon Square, to Massachusetts Ave, 2nd St NE, Florida Ave, then 15th St NW to the west.
The quality of the individual church surveys have varied. New Hope Baptist had nothing worth writing home about and churches like Mt. Sinai and First Rising Mount Zion have more information.
There was another survey in 1970. It wasn’t as rich as the 1957 survey. Churches in Shaw: A Report of the Survey of Churches in the Shaw Urban Renewal Area of Washington, D.C., 1970 , seen below, does not look at each and every individual church. The churches are all lopped together in one report.
The 1970 report does have a useful appendix of the churches that still exist as of Continue reading The Uniqueness of the 1957 Church Survey
This is part of a series where I look at churches that were surveyed in the 1957 Northwest Urban Renewal Area Church Survey. No other survey has been done since.
Today’s entry is Mt. Airy Baptist Church currently at 1100 North Capitol Street NW, was in 1957 at 17 L St NW… which is kinda where the building sits. It’s not in Shaw, it’s over in the NoMa area.
It still is, and was then, an African American church. It was a large church with about 1,300 members. They had a large under 18 population and the majority of the members were white collar workers. About 40% of the members lived in the Northwest survey area, whereas the 60% majority lived in other parts of the District.
CS 5 Mt Airy Baptist by Mm Inshaw
Once again, this is a church that no longer exists, on lots that no longer exist. St. Paul the Apostle sat at 15th and V Streets NW. It’s campus was on Square 203, lots 800, 801, 802, 803, 806, 807, & 808. The only one of those lots that still exists is 806.
Maybe in the future I will look into when the diocese decided to close or rename it, as St. Augustine sits there now.
St. Augustine is a primarily African American Church. St. Paul was a majority White church, though there is mention that Blacks attended mass in the 1957 church survey.
St. Paul the Apostle’s 1957 demographic information leaves much to be desired. The membership was around 1200 but what were their occupations? Eh, mainly the government. What was the age range? Eh, middle aged? What the heck is 1957 middle aged? It changes depending on how long people live. The geographic info is based on parish boundaries, which most people these days ignore (myself included). The boundary for St. Paul the Apostle was 20th St NW (a bit of Dupont/ Adams Morgan), Girard St NW, 7th St NW, and Q St NW.
Anyway, here’s the 1957 survey page:
CS-56-St Paul the Apostile by Mm Inshaw
It’s Pentecost. Wear red and write about a Pentecostal church.
Mt. Zion Pentecostal Church was and still is at 1112 N St NW. It was a tiny church in 1957, with just 70 members. It was and still is an African American church.
They did not provide any information about the professional make up of the congregation. But they did say that most of the membership lived outside of the Northwest Urban Renewal Area in other parts of the District of Columbia.
Well, this is another church that no longer exists.
The Tried Stone Church of Christ in 1957 when the survey was done, was at 1217 5th St NW. That address no longer exists. It was on Square 513 and lots 813-815. Those do not exist. When I threw the address into Google, I got a spot where the Metropolitan Community Church sits at 474 Ridge St NW. it’s on a corner.
The survey sheet doesn’t reveal a lot of information about the church, except that it was a steeple church.
The Rehoboth Church of God no longer exists in Washington DC. Nor does it’s 1957 address 1101 8th St NW. There is a convention center at that spot. So if it were still there it would be in Mt. Vernon Sq., next to Shaw. Really doesn’t matter as they did not provide much information to the 1957 Church Survey.
CS-42-Rehoboth Church of God by Mm Inshaw
Well this is another in the series of churches participating in the 1957 Northwest Urban Renewal Area church survey. This church survey has never been replicated. There have been other reports but they approach the churches as a whole and not as individual congregations. Churches are interesting as an entity. Florida Avenue Baptist is completely different from Mt. Sinai Baptist, despite both being Baptist.
Today’s church is Second Baptist Church at 816 3rd Street NW, which is still functioning today in the Mt. Vernon Triangle area. Then as is now, it is an African American church. In 1957, it was a middle aged and middle class Continue reading 1957 Church Survey: Second Baptist Church- Rando Church not in Shaw
This church used to be know for it’s fugly building.
By AgnosticPreachersKid CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
But this is not about the fug, this is about history. [Yes, yes, we could go on about the history of the Brutalist building that only an architectural historian could love, but I’m here for the people]. Besides, in 1957 they weren’t even at 16th and I NW where the ugly building was. No, they were at 1220 L St NW, which is currently occupied by a nondescript 1980s looking Downtown office building.
The interesting thing about this survey submission is that they say that due to their own church rules they could not provide numbers. But they did go on to say that most of their members did not live in the Northwest Urban Renewal Area. They don’t give a racial make up of their congregation, nor an idea if they members are white collar or blue. Continue reading 1957 Church Survey- Third Church of Christ Scientist- Random Churches not in Shaw
