Intersection of Jefferson and North Rankin streets

Intersection of Jefferson and North Rankin streets. Natchez Trails. , Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church was built in 1858 as the Second Presbyterian Church, a mission of First Presbyterian Church. Zion Chapel acquired the building in 1866, when Hiram R. Revels served as pastor. The election of Revels in 1870 to the United States Senate marked the first time that an African American served in either house of the U.S. Congress. , Hiram Revels was born free in North Carolina in 1827. As a young man, he worked as a barber before studying to become a minister at seminaries in Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. During the Civil War, he recruited black Union regiments in Maryland and Missouri. After his arrival at Zion Chapel A.M.E. Church, he was elected to the City Council, and then to the Mississippi State Senate. After serving in the U.S. Senate 1870-1871, he became the first President of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Alcorn State University). , Richard King built King's Tavern about 1797 and received his first tavern license in 1799. Boatmen who floated down the Mississippi River to sell their flatboats of enslaved persons and produce frequently stopped in at the tavern on their return from New Orleans. They then headed north by foot on the Natchez Trace. Pony Express riders, who carried mail on the Natchez Trace, also used the building as a mail station. , In 1848, the parish at St. Mary Cathedral started the St. Mary's Orphan Asylum for girls (no longer standing). In 1860, the church also started D'Evereux Hall, an orphanage for boys on the outskirts of downtown. In 1966, the Church closed both orphanages and demolished the buildings. The Church sold the girls' orphanage property to Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church for use as a parking lot. , In the foreground of this photograph is the G. L. C. Davis House. Superintendent of the National Telegraph line, Davis sold his home in 1858 when he resigned his position and moved to New Orleans. The for-sale advertisement described it as “the eligibly situated and new built brick house [with] a fine garden and orchard of fruit trees attached.”