By Laurin Penland
Wilmington, NC – Tonight, Wilmington's City Council will consider designating one of the first black Presbyterian Churches in North Carolina as a local historic landmark.
Kaye Graybeal, Director of Wilmington City Planning, says the Chestnut Street Presbyterian Church is remarkable as a structure and for the history of its members.
The church was built in 1858 in an unusual mixture of Carpenter Gothic and Italianate styles. Graybeal says Alexander Manley was a member there, and it's his newspaper that was involved in the race riots of 1898, also known as the only coup in U.S. history.
Other notable members were architect Robert Taylor, and James Shober, one of the first black physicians in North Carolina. The church is one of many buildings around Wilmington that have been recommended to receive Historic Landmark status.
Do you have insight or expertise on this topic? Please email us, we'd like to hear from you. news@whqr.org.