Johnson Chapel / Albee Quarters

Johnson Chapel, also, Albee Quarters. . , The original Johnson Chapel building, located on Church Street in Laurel, was moved in 1947 from the Missionary Baptist Church in Osprey to become the sanctuary for the Johnson Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Laurel. Naming the church for their first pastor, the congregation had previously met in homes and a school. Located in the Albee Quarters, the church served residents in the four Laurel “quarters” for African-American laborers of the Laurel Turpentine Company, the Arnold Lumber Company, the Albee farm and dairy and the Blackburn groves. , Before its move, the one-room church building had been part of a land and building exchange between the Osprey church and Mrs. Potter (Bertha) Palmer. Palmer had the building constructed in 1915 for the Osprey congregation and it was used as a school as well as worship center. When the Osprey congregation built a larger sanctuary, the smaller building was moved to Laurel. There, during the week, it was a community center for groups such as the Lily White Lodge #22, Colanthes, Knights of Pythias, Masons and Eastern Star. The building continued as a church worship center until late 1973. In 1997 it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as the only structure remaining in Sarasota County from the early 1900s that, during its lifetime, has served as a meeting place for an African-American community.