Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church

Address: 4100 S. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Year Built: 1888-1890, original building; 1913, addition Architect: John T. Long Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: July 19, 2007

Originally built as the 41st Street Presbyterian Church, this Richardsonian Romanesque-style church building is built of visually-distinctive "raindrop," or variegated, purplish-brown sandstone. The architect of the building, John T. Long, also designed the Yale Apartments in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood (a designated Chicago Landmark) and the 111th St. Train Station in the Beverly/Morgan Park Railroad Station Chicago Landmark District. The building later became the Metropolitan Community Church, the membership rolls of which contained such notable African-Americans as Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Robert S. Abbott, and Gwendolyn Brooks. The church also served as the organizational home for a number of African-American labor unions and social clubs. Most notably, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, founded by A. Philip Randolph, met regularly at the church.