St. Paul’s A.U.M.P. Church Gets Some Long Awaited TLC

St. Paul’s A.U.M.P. Church Gets Some Long Awaited TLC

St. Paul’s A.U.M.P. Church Gets Some Long Awaited TLC

St. Paul’s A.U.M.P. Church Gets Some Long Awaited TLC
By Bruce DarConte
St. Paul’s Church is the small building that
residents know is there. Many walk by it
daily and it is clearly visible as you exit the
6th Street ramp from the freeway either heading
home, or to a Nationals game. Many Capitol
Hill residents see it on their way South to Yards
Park to attend a Friday night concert or any
number of events that are held there.
As the Capitol Riverfront area has grown,
this little church watched from the sidelines as
its congregation shrank and the neighborhood
around it sat barren.
Although many have seen the exterior, most
have never seen the interior, which is rich with
history, yet in poor condition. The pews are
wood with red cloth inserts and a drop ceiling
covers the original tin ceiling, which is in surprisingly
great shape.
The building, built in 1924 and designated
as historic in 2011, watched from its location
on the corner of 4th and Eye Street SE on the
footprint of Capitol Quarter as the area has been
transformed more than once. It has witnessed the
construction of the Capper Carrollsburg housing
project in the 1940’s, the
building of the freeway just
feet to its north by Virginia
Avenue in the 1960’s, and
the recent completion of
the Capitol Quarter row
homes, which replaced
Capper Carrollsburg.
Now, the building is
finally getting some long
awaited tender loving care.
Thanks to a generous
corporate grant and the
efforts of Pastor Karen
Mills, construction has
begun on a brand new roof,
which has only seen some
light patchwork over the last 3-4 decades according
to Mills, who attended the church as a child
and returned a few years ago as Pastor.
The neglect was so evident that the roof was
beginning to buckle in the center and water had
nowhere to go except inside the building.
The African Union Methodist Protestant
Church congregation that became Saint Paul’s
began as a prayer group in 1900. R.C. Archer, Jr.
who was the second licensed African American
architect in Washington, designed the church. It
was his first church commission in the city. The
Gothic Revival style building was completed
in 1924. Saint Paul’s is the only church that
survives from a predominately working-class
African American neighborhood in the Navy
Yard area.
It is also one of the area’s last surviving buildings
from the first part of the 20th century. The
vast majority of its congregation relocated as the
area changed and many people born in the early
days of the building have passed away.
The new roof will go a long way toward
restoring the building to its former glory. Complete
with its new roof, the interior will get a
good buff and scrub as we collect pictures of the
original interior so that plans can get underway
to restore it to its original beauty.
On the back wall by the altar, the sign reads:
“Embracing the Community with God’s Love”.
That is what the church wants to continue
doing, as the plan is to open the building to host
some community meetings and events.
So, the next time you walk by 4th and Eye
St. SE and see the door open on a Sunday, stop
in and check it out (don’t worry, you don’t have
to convert). Pastor Mills will welcome you with
open arms. After all, it is about embracing the
community, as their sign says.
n By Bruce DarConte, Education Chair, Community.

By Bruce DarConte, Education Chair, Community.