Oakey Streak Methodist Episcopal Church

Oakey Streak Methodist Church is an example of the vernacular interpretation of the Gothic style in a rural Alabama church built in the second half of the last century. Like so many rural churches in the South, it has served not only the religious needs of this community but also the social needs as well.

Architecturally, Oakey Streak resembles many simple Gothic-influenced one-room frame churches, especially Methodist, built throughout the southeast in the years after the War Between the States and before World War II. The Gothic influence was most evident in the use of triangular-arched or lancet windows and transoms, and in the interior beveled areas at the confluence of the walls and ceilings.

The church was organized by 1831 and on December 7, 1850, A. M. Reid deeded the present location of ten acres to the church trustees. For several years a log building served the congregation but was replaced by the current structure sometime in the last half of the 19th century. In 1903 the square tower was added, and with the exception of the loss of the original spire to lightning, the building has had few structural alterations since then. Around the church and the Dawson Mason Lodge, which was located nearby until it was razed about 1940, revolved most social life in this area. Besides the regular Sunday School and church services, protracted meetings, all-day-singings with-dinner-on-the-ground, the annual cemetery decoration or memorial day, Baptisms, weddings, and funerals were all occasions for local people to get together at the Oakey Streak Methodist Church. The center pews are divided, and until the 1930s, all males sat on the left side of the sanctuary and all females on the right. Membership of the church is down from previous years, but regular services are still held each second and fourth Sunday of every month.

During the past year, the congregation made many improvements to the structure to restore it to its 1903 appearance and preserve it for the future.