Bethel A.M.E. Church

The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church features a stark white facade and tall, arched windows that reach toward the Key West sky. This congregation began in eighteen seventy, when formerly enslaved people and migrants from the Bahamas sought a place for their own worship. Members hauled salvaged lumber from shipwrecks to build their original sanctuary. Today, the structure remains a hub for the neighborhood, housing a history of independence that dates back to a time when few other local institutions welcomed them.