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Mississippi » Piney Woods Region » Jones County » Laurel » ST. PAUL METHODIST CHURCH

ST. PAUL METHODIST CHURCH

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1962, Clair M. Jones. 517 Jefferson St.

The steep roof and gabled front of this historically African American brick church are a modernist homage to the verticality and pointed features of Gothic architecture. A pattern of cross shapes across the facade is formed by projecting bricks. African American architect Jones of Memphis graduated from Hampton University and later worked for the United Methodist Church Division of Architecture under DeWitt S. Dykes Sr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at this church, gathering support for his Poor People’s March only a few weeks before his assassination in 1968. Opera singer Leontyne Price, who grew up in Laurel, attended the church, and sang in its choir, helped dedicate the building. Her childhood home is across the street at 408 S. 5th Avenue.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Jennifer V.O. Baughn and Michael W. Fazio with Mary Warren Miller
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Data

What's Nearby

EASTMAN, GARDINER AND COMPANY HEADQUARTERS
LAUREL CITY HALL
TRUSTMARK BANK (COMMERCIAL NATIONAL BANK)
JONES COUNTY COURTHOUSE
FIRST-TRINITY PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Citation

Jennifer V.O. Baughn and Michael W. Fazio with Mary Warren Miller, "ST. PAUL METHODIST CHURCH", [Laurel, Mississippi], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/MS-02-PW20.

Print Source

Buildings of Mississippi, Jennifer V. O. Baughn and Michael W. Fazio. With Mary Warren Miller. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2021, 312-312.

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