St. John's-In-The-Prairie

St. John's-In-The-Prairie, now known as St. John's Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church in Forkland, Alabama, United States.

St. John's-In-The-Prairie
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The church in 2008
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Location	SR 4, Forkland, Alabama
Coordinates	32°38′51″N 87°52′54″W
Built	1859
Architect	Upjohn, Richard
Architectural style	Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.	75000313[1]
Added to NRHP	November 20, 1975

History

The congregation was organized in 1834 by Caleb Ives, a pioneer missionary, and was admitted to parish status in 1838. The first rector was the Rev. John Avery. The wooden Gothic Revival structure was built in 1859 on a Southern plantation to the designs of Richard Upjohn.^[1] It was a Methodist church, built on a Southern plantation south of Greensboro in the Antebellum South.^[2]

After the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the Methodist planter had lost most of his assets.^[2] He ran afoul of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South after he built a saloon from the ruins of his plantation house.^[2] As a result, he decided to convert the congregation to an Episcopal church and move the building across the Black Warrior River to its present location in 1878.^[2][3] Others suggest he had sold alcohol to the Union Army and moved to flee veterans of the Confederate States Army.^[2]

As of 2017, the church still has several congregants.^[2]

Heritage significance

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1975.^[1]