The Mt. Moriah A.M.E. Zion Church which was located on Alabama Ave in 1973.
According to information from the Rhea County Historical and Genealogy Society, the African Methodist Church was mentioned in a deed dated July 16, 1891. J.F. Smith and wife M.C. Smith sold lot number 8, in J.J. Abel’s addition in Dayton, to the Trustees of the A.M.E. Zion of Dayton.
The A.M.E. Zion Church was erected in 1891 and was located on Fox Street, which is known today as Alabama Ave. The church sat directly behind the current day Police Station which is at the corner of Market Street and Alabama Ave.
Between 1904 and 1906, the church was rented by the City of Dayton Board of Education and was used as a colored school. The City of Dayton agreed to pay the church $10 per month for the use of the building as the school. Further agreement was reached that the City would also be responsible for any damages done to the property by either students or teachers.
The church building burned in 1942, however, it was rebuilt by 1944 at this same location. The building continued to be in use by the A.M.E. church until 1973, when the City of Dayton purchased it during a downtown Urban Renewal Revitalization project.
The trustees of the A.M.E church purchased new land on Memorial Street behind the Taylor Hills Housing Authority in September of 1975 to erect a new building for their church. The building still stands empty today and the status of the church is unknown.
The author of this blog post means no disrespect in the reference to race. This information was obtained from historical resources and listed as it appeared.
Photos below are of the old 1973 and 2020 locations.
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