Reedy Chapel-AME Church
a.k.a. Reedy Chapel
2013 Broadway, Galveston, TXThe property on which the building stands was purchased in 1848 by four white trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church-South, for the use of slaves. It was originally used as an open meeting area. Before Emancipation a small structure was built, and white members of the Methodist Church held services there for the blacks. A permanent structure was erected in 1863.
In the turmoil following the Civil War, the Methodist Episcopal Church-North filed suit against the Methodist Episcopal Church-South in an attempt to gain possession of the former slave churches. The courts ruled in favor of the Southern sector, and the property was given to the ex-slaves to establish their own church. the church and property were deeded to the newly formed African Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1867 the chapel obtained its first pastor, a missionary from Philadelphia named Houston Reedy. It was subsequently named in his honor.
The chapel was destroyed by fire in 1885; in 1886 the present building was erected. Although hurricanes and severe weather have caused damage to the building, it has been kept in good repair, and still serves the community.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.