Bethel A.M.E. Church
Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Berks County's oldest Black church building. Erected 1837 by free African Americans; became an Underground Railroad station for escaped slaves seeking freedom. Rebuilt 1867; remodeled 1889. Congregation, dating from 1822, moved to Windsor Street in 1974.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Built in 1837 by free African Americans, Bethel A.M.E. is the oldest Black church building in Berks County, raised by a congregation that had gathered since 1822. In the tense decades before the Civil War, it served as a station on the Underground Railroad, sheltering freedom seekers escaping bondage in the South. Rebuilt in 1867 and remodeled in 1889, the building anchored Reading's Black community until the congregation moved to Windsor Street in 1974.
Why it matters
The church embodies the twin pillars of the free Black community's fight for dignity — an independent house of worship and an active role in the Underground Railroad's resistance to slavery.
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Related events
- · Underground Railroad
Themes & tags
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