Bethel AME Church - Reno/Sparks

African Americans have long been an enduring, albeit small, component of Nevada’s population. It peaked at 396 in the nineteenth century. Reno was Nevada’s largest town and home to the majority of the black population. The small African American population had a few social institutions to champion causes or to provide continuity with social life. In 1907 they joined together to improve their lot by organizing Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) and in 1910, the colored Independent Political Club. When organized, there were 225 blacks in town the congregation anticipated a membership of about 50. In spring 1910, the California Conference of the AME Church sent Reverend William Solley to Reno to facilitate the construction of the church building.

The church building located at 220 Bell Street in Reno was dedicated on May 29,1910. It was a tiny 1599 square foot building located just south of the railroad tracks that ran east and west through town. The clapboard building was rectangular, gable– roofed, with a centrally -placed, enclosed hipped roof vestibule, and a single entry door. The most prominent features of the little church were four gothic stained glass windows. Bethel AME church was Reno’s first black church and is clearly the oldest surviving black institution in the state.

Bethel AME Church was not only the seat of religious observance, but also a center of social interaction. It is not surprising that when in 1919, Reno blacks along with several prominent whites formed the first chapter of the NAACP; a majority of the founding membership was affiliated with Bethel. In 1941, to further the expansion goals of the church, the Reverend Booker made an offer on an existing building on Seventh and Sierra Streets in northwest Reno. However, a large group of property owners demanded that the church be prevented from taking possession of the building asserting that property values would suffer if the congregation were allowed to purchase in the northwest. Reverend Booker relinquished and the church decided to remodel instead.