The Shape of Texas
Allen Chapel AME Church, Fort Worth - The Shape of Texas
11/1/2022 | 2m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Fort Worth’s oldest Black church serves as the focal point of an historic community.
Fort Worth’s oldest African American church serves as the focal point of an historic community east of downtown. It was designed by William Sidney Pittman, the first African American architect to practice in Texas.
The Shape of Texas
Allen Chapel AME Church, Fort Worth - The Shape of Texas
11/1/2022 | 2m 15sVideo has Closed Captions
Fort Worth’s oldest African American church serves as the focal point of an historic community east of downtown. It was designed by William Sidney Pittman, the first African American architect to practice in Texas.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Narrator] Just blocks away from downtown Fort Worth is the Allen Chapel, the city's oldest Black church, and the centerpiece of its historic community.
It was designed by William Sidney Pittman, the first Black architect to practice in Texas.
He's also the son-in-law of Booker T. Washington.
The church was commissioned for $20,000 and completed in 1914.
It can seat over 1,300 people.
Pittman designed the two-story church in Gothic revival style.
It's a rectangular building made with pale yellow brick trimmed with white sandstone.
The arched stained-glass windows on its facade were once topped with a square bell tower.
But in 2011, lightning struck the tower, causing significant damage, it eventually had to be removed.
Members of the congregation often said that when they approached the building, it resembled a blacksmith's shop.
A nod to the place where enslaved people often worshiped.
The entrance is an unusual one, bringing worshipers to the front of the congregation rather than the back.
This is rumored to be the idea of the first pastor, an effort to keep church members from turning around to see who else had arrived for the service.
Oak wood paneling and seating, pressed metal ceilings and Gothic style light fixtures add texture, warmth and intimacy to the interior.
To compliment the architectural masterpiece, a floor-to-ceiling pipe organ is situated at the head of the church.
The structured is named a Texas historic landmark and listed on the National Register.
Pittman designed several buildings in Texas, but sadly, much of his architectural legacy has been demolished.
Renovation of the Allen Chapel in the early 1980s preserved many of its original features.
Pitman's vision lives on through this building that's become a part of the soul of the surrounding community.
Funding for The Shape of Texas is provided by Texas Society of Architects; and by a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of The National Endowment for the Humanities; and The Summerlee Foundation of Dallas, Texas.
