Montgomery in Montgomery County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)

Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church

By Mark Hilton, March 8, 2014

1. Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church Marker

Inscription. This congregation was organized by the Court Street Methodist Church in the early 1850s. The latter group offered their 1835 wood frame building to the black members if they would relocate it. In 1852 the church was moved to this site under the supervision of freedman Thomas Wilson, who was assisted by Sol Brack, Solomon Hannon, Emanuel Nobel and others. White ministers served the congregation until 1862 when Allen Hannon assumed the duties. The building was remodeled in 1888 and in 1918-1920 it was reconstructed in the classical revival style.

The organization of the National W.H.O.M. Society of A.M.E. Zion Church (1880), the meeting (1887) in which it was decided to move State Normal School (now Alabama State University) from Marion to Montgomery, and the first graduation exercises of that school (1888), all took place here. President William Henry McKinley, Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, Governor Thomas Kilby and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke here on various occasions.

Local lore attributes the origin of the name to a laborer involved in moving the original building. A bystander asked, "What do you have there?" and the laborer replied, "It's the Old Ship of Zion moving on." National Register of Historic Places 1-24-1991

Erected

Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church image. Click for full size.

By Mark Hilton, March 8, 2014

2. Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church

1991 by the Alabama Historical Commission.

Location. 32° 22.276′ N, 86° 18.711′ W. Marker is in Montgomery, Alabama, in Montgomery County. Marker is at the intersection of Holcombe Street and Mildred Street, on the right when traveling north on Holcombe Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 483 Holcombe Street, Montgomery AL 36104, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Montgomery Racial Segregation on Buses (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Racial Inequality in the United States (about 500 feet away); The Transatlantic Slave Trade (about 600 feet away); The National Memorial for Peace and Justice (about 600 feet away); Civil War - Barnes School / Figh-Pickett House (approx. 0.2 miles away); Rice-Semple-Haardt House (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been reported missing. ); Kahl Montgomery/Catoma Street Church of Christ (approx. ¼ mile away); The Five Points Area: A Unique Blend of Communities in 1965 (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Montgomery.

Also see . . . Welcome to Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church. (Submitted on March 8, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.)

Categories. • African Americans • Churches & Religion • Education •

Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church Signs image. Click for full size.

By Mark Hilton, March 8, 2014

3. Old Ship A.M.E. Zion Church Signs

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. This page originally submitted on March 8, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 364 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on March 8, 2014, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.