Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church (Richard Allen founding legends)

Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, founded by Richard Allen and located at this address, is the founding church of the African Methodist Episcopal denomination and is designated a National Historic Landmark. Oral histories and local tradition hold that the church and its congregation played roles in anti-slavery activism and in assisting free and enslaved African Americans, and these accounts form part of the site's community memory. Historians recognize the church's central role in African American religious and civic life while noting that some specific Underground Railroad claims are based on oral tradition and are interpreted with attention to documentary evidence.