Facade	Left Elevation	Interior Sanctuary	Interior Arch Detail

This church was built in 1909 by Clinton African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Zion Church, which was the first separate black church established in Kershaw in the early twentieth century. It is significant both as a particularly intact example of Gothic Revival church architecture common in the period and as an example of early institutions in Kershaw’s black community. Clinton A.M.E. Zion Church was named for Isom Caleb Clinton, an ex-slave who was a prominent minister in the A.M.E. Zion Church and who was ordained as a bishop in 1892. The building is a one-story, T-shaped, frame structure covered with clapboard siding and has a brick pier foundation with concrete block infill. It has a front pent-gabled roof on the north façade and a lower pent-gable side ell on the east elevation with an engaged bell tower with pyramidal roof projecting from the north façade. A skirt roof divides the tower into two vertical sections. The main entry is through two paneled double doors with a peaked transom and simple decorative door surround. The sanctuary has its original lighting fixtures and beaded-board wainscoting. Painted on an interior arch molding is the phrase, “The Lord is in his holy temple: Let all the earth keep silence before him.” Listed in the National Register February 16, 1990.

View the complete text of the nomination form for this National Register property. In addition, the Historic Resources of Lancaster County, ca. 1745-ca. 1940 includes historical background information for this and other related National Register properties.

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