Salem United Methodist Church

211 West 129th Street | Harlem | built 1966

Open on the map4 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1887

    October 23

    The church is built for Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church

    Architect John Rochester Thomas designed the Romanesque Revival church at West 129th Street and Seventh Avenue for the Calvary Methodist Episcopal congregation, then a white congregation. It opened for worship on October 23, 1887, and was enlarged in 1890. A national register nomination calls it the largest church in the city when it was built.

    Source: historic-structures.com

  2. 1924

    October 5

    Salem Methodist Episcopal Church takes over the building

    Calvary approved the sale of its church building to Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in 1923, as white residents had moved away and attendance had shrunk. Calvary held its closing service on September 28, 1924, and invited the Salem congregation to join in. Salem held its own opening service in the building the following Sunday, October 5.

    Source: historic-structures.com

  3. 1928

    Easter Monday

    Countee Cullen marries Yolande Du Bois at Salem

    Poet Countee Cullen married Yolande Du Bois at Salem on Easter Monday in 1928. The wedding had 16 bridesmaids and 16 ushers. About 3,000 guests came, 1,800 more than were invited and 500 more than the church could seat.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1939

    Sugar Ray Robinson trains in the church's basement gym

    Boxer Sugar Ray Robinson trained at the Salem-Crescent Athletic Club, which Reverend Frederick Asbury Cullen had founded in 1911 and which later used the church basement. Robinson won Golden Gloves titles as an amateur in 1939 and 1940, and he also worshiped at the church.

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

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