A Romanesque Revival church in Cleveland, Tennessee, built in 1893 on a site the Methodist congregation has occupied since 1868.
At a glance
Broad Street United Methodist Church stands at 155 Central Ave NW in Cleveland, Tennessee. Completed in 1893, it is the fifth home of a congregation that began meeting in the Bradley County Courthouse in 1836. The building uses an Akron plan sanctuary inside a Romanesque Revival shell, with later additions from 1922 and 1968.
History
The congregation’s first worship space was the Bradley County Courthouse, where Methodists met starting in 1836. Over the next five decades the church moved between four sites in Cleveland. At one point it was known as Lea Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
During the Civil War, in 1863, Union troops seized the church’s building at the corner of Church and First Streets. The army used it as a stable and granary. After the war, the congregation built a brick church at the present location in 1867–1868. That building was demolished in 1893 to make way for the current one, which rose on the same site.
What you see
The 1893 church is designed in the Romanesque Revival style. Inside, the sanctuary follows the Akron plan, a late-nineteenth-century arrangement that places Sunday school rooms and the main worship space in a single flexible layout. Additions extended the building in 1922 and again in 1968.
Cultural significance
The church building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The listing recognizes its architectural character and its long connection to Methodist worship in Cleveland.
Key facts
- Country: United States
- City: Cleveland, Tennessee
- Coordinates: 35.1522, -84.8761
- National Register of Historic Places: 1984
Practical information & getting there
The church is located at 155 Central Ave NW in Cleveland, Tennessee. No visitor hours or admission information is provided in the source.
Sources & resources
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