Lost Churches

More time travel through the collections of the Kellenberger Room

First Baptist Church, northwest corner of Johnson and Metcalf streets, photographed c.1900. Built c. 1811-12 with the tower  added c. 1833, the building was replaced by the Baptists with a new church in a different location in 1848. The old church became the home of the African American St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church following the Civil War.  They replaced this building with a new church on the same site in 1910.

by John B. Green III

Continuing our time travel for the self-isolated and socially distanced, we examine photos of New Bern churches lost to time.  Either accidentally burned or in some cases demolished as the needs or tastes of their congregations changed, these fascinating buildings would be prized additions to our town today.

Tabernacle Baptist Church, northeast corner Broad and George streets, photo c. 1900. Designed by New Bern architect Herbert Woodley Simpson and completed in 1897, Tabernacle Baptist Church was enlarged in 1913 and unfortunately destroyed by fire on the evening of November 30, 1931. The congregation erected a brick building on the same site in 1943.

Centenary Methodist Church, 500 block New Street, south side, photographed c. 1901. Probably designed and erected by New Bern builder Hardy B. Lane, the church was completed by 1843. Originally designed in the Greek Revival style with a square tower topped by four corner spires, the structure was extensively remodeled in 1884 by architect J. Crawford Neilson and builder A.M. Carroll, both from Baltimore. The church was replaced by a new facility two blocks east in 1905.  The 1843 building was sold and served as a furniture warehouse until it was demolished in 1939.

Christian Church, 300 block Hancock Street, west side, photo c. 1914. Built between 1887 and 1889, the Christian Church was described at its dedication as:  The new church is a neat, attractive building.  It is 60 x 34 feet in size; the top of the steeple is 108 feet from the ground; the pitch of the ceiling is 21 feet; the walls, inside, are imitation stone; the ceiling overhead is of native woods, beautifully painted and finished with gilded trimmings; stained-glass windows; gallery in front end; very comfortable pews; handsome pulpit furniture; the room is heated by one of Mott's furnaces; well lighted at night by gas, one of I.P. Frinks' silvered corrugated glass reflectors being used, besides a gas-light on each side of the pulpit and two in the gallery.  The church was destroyed by fire on the evening of December 30, 1918 and replaced in 1926 at a new site on Broad Street.

The Baptist Tabernacle

"A Quick Working Church"

Tabernacle Baptist Church, photo c.1900, photographer unknown.

by John B. Green III

On June 7, 1895 there appeared in the New Bern Daily Journal an article with the heading "A Quick Working Church." The writer proceeded to detail all that the newly established church had "accomplished inside of thirty days." The members had withdrawn from First Baptist Church, organized a new church, called a pastor, erected a "Tabernacle with Baptismal pool," organized a Women's Missionary society, had a Sunday School picnic, and begun a "protracted meeting" or revival.

The new church, known variously as Second Baptist Church, the Baptist Tabernacle, and Tabernacle Baptist Church, began as a Sunday School mission sponsored by members of First Baptist Church in 1893. Meeting in the western part of town on Norwood Street near Queen and Pollock streets, the mission eventually moved to a lot on Bern Street where a temporary frame structure known as the Tabernacle was erected and the new church was formally organized.

The Daily Journal, Friday, 13 November 1896.

Continued growth led the church to purchase a prominent lot on the northeast corner of Broad and George streets in August 1895. There, between November 1896 and April 1897, a large and stylish church was erected.  Designed by New Bern architect Herbert Woodley Simpson and constructed by A.W. Cook, builder, the new church contained a vestibule and a large auditorium with four sections of seating converging on the pulpit in the corner of the room. Behind the pulpit was a baptistry with two dressing rooms and concrete steps leading down into the water. Four class rooms flanked the auditorium, three of which could provide additional seating by opening the large windows which divided them from the main room. The church faced George Street and was entered through a two-stage tower, the most notable feature of the building's exterior. The structure would be remodeled and enlarged in 1913 to provide additional room for the growing congregation.

Tabernacle Baptist Church, as remodeled in 1913. Image from Illustrated City of New Bern, North Carolina, 1914 (Np: Southern Press, 1914)

This large, frame church, on its corner lot, would remain a vital part of New Bern's religious and community life until the evening of November 30, 1931 when a faulty flue started a fire which reduced the church to a smoldering ruin. Although the congregation made plans to rebuild immediately, the Great Depression slowed recovery efforts until 1943 when a new brick church was completed on the same site.

Morning New Bernian, Tuesday, 1 December 1931.