Orchard Street United Methodist Church
MSA SC 5496-51566                                                                                                                                                                                                            
African-American Church, Baltimore City, Est. 1825

                                                                                                                                                                                                         
Biography:

    The Orchard Street United Methodist Church is the oldest standing structure built by African-Americans in Baltimore. The church was established by Trueman Pratt, a former slave born in Anne Arundel County. Sources claim that he had been owned by General John Eager Howard, then several other white men before purchasing his freedom.¹

    As of Orchard Street’s founding in 1825, Trueman Pratt was likely a free man. The church was formally organized in 1837, but he was supposed to have held prayer meetings at his home on Pierce Street before obtaining the plot of land. In 1839, Trueman, with fellow free blacks Cyrus Moore and Basil Hall, began to lease the grounds at the corner of Orchard Street and what was then called Elder Alley. The yearly rent of the property was set at $80.50, paid to the owner, a Pennsylvania man named Kirkpatrick Ewing.² Baltimore’s business directory formally recognized the religious institution, as “Orchard Chapel,” in its 1842 edition.³ Reverend Jacob Gruber oversaw the new congregation, which fell within the Baltimore circuit of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This same religious leader had been unsuccessfully prosecuted for inciting a slave uprising in Washington County in 1818. Gruber would later recall that once Orchard Street's main building was complete, "we found it necessary to have a school-house for Sunday-school and class-meetings."⁴ The church made additions in 1853 and 1865 to accommodate increasing numbers of African-Americans populating the surrounding area.⁵

    Particularly after the end of the Civil War, the neighborhood around Orchard Street had become a popular destination for migrant ex-slaves from the rural districts of the state. One such individual was the Reverend Samuel Green, a Dorchester County native, who had been imprisoned 5 years in the state penitentiary for possessing the novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Green moved to Baltimore in the early 1870’s in order to work for the burgeoning Centenary Biblical Institute(now Morgan State), worshipping at Orchard Street until his death in 1877.⁶ Founder Trueman Pratt also died that year, allegedly reaching over 100 years of age.⁷ By that time the structure could no longer support its growing congregation, and plans were made to rebuild.

    In 1882 a Baltimore architect named Frank E. Davis was tasked with constructing the new facility, which would be located at the same location. The church, renamed Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church, was finished that December at an approximate cost of $27,000. Two to three thousand were present for the laying of the corner-stone, including numerous prominent ministers from the region. A contemporary newspaper account would refer to the finished building as the “foremost colored house of worship in the state.”⁸

    The church would also develop into an important civic institution for the African-American community, often hosting conferences related to politics and education. The Colored Maryland Literary Union, the Washington Methodist Episcopal Conference, various university commencements and reunions of United States Colored Troops met at Orchard Street over the years. Teddy Roosevelt even took to the pulpit in advance of the 1912 election in order to warn black voters against accepting bribes by “unscrupulous white men.”⁹ The church remained in operation until the congregation relocated in 1972. The next year, a fire and recurring vandalism nearly led to the structure being demolished by the city.

    Recognizing its historical significance, community groups mobilized to save the church. Several preservation organizations, including the Maryland Commission on Negro History and Culture, sought to document its story.¹⁰ The building was subsequently added to the National Register of Historic places in 1975. During the research process no evidence was recovered to support rumors of Underground Railroad activity, though church members may well have participated in that movement. Efforts to restore the church and establish a museum of black history in the state repeatedly stalled throughout the next 15 years. Orchard Street finally received the necessary backing when the Baltimore Urban League decided to move its offices there in 1992. The organization funded much of the restoration, which has returned the aged structure to its former grandeur.¹¹

 
 
 

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