Inaugural preservation grant awarded to St. Mark AME Church

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation will present its inaugural Wade and Mary Lu Mitchell African American Heritage Preservation Grant to St. Mark AME Church at a ceremony on July 28.

The new grant will award $20,000 annually to African American preservation projects within the city of Atlanta. The grant is made available through the Mitchell Family Fund at the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

The grant will be officially awarded at the July 28 ceremony at 10 a.m. at St. Mark’s,
491 James P. Brawley Drive NW. Georgia Trust President and CEO Wright Mitchell will present the grant to The Beloved Community Inc., which will partner with the Atlanta Preservation Center to oversee the project. Additional remarks will be made by Pastor Winston Taylor of The Beloved Community and David Mitchell, executive director of the Atlanta Preservation Center.

St. Mark AME Church, a landmark in the English Avenue neighborhood, was originally constructed in 1920 as Western Heights Baptist Church. The St. Mark congregation moved into the building in 1948. Notable for its rare vernacular interpretation of the Mission Revival style — featuring hand-laid Stone Mountain granite — the church not only served as a house of worship but also a vibrant community hub, hosting graduations, civic meetings, and cultural events during the mid-20th century.

The congregation remained until 1976, after which time the building became vacant until it was purchased by the current owner, Pastor Winston Taylor, in 1995. The roof and the interior of the church were completely removed due to major structural and water damage, and the site now operates as an open-air space.

The grant will support urgently needed masonry repairs in the church’s southeast corner. Specifically, the work will include repointing mortar and stabilizing cracks with stainless steel stitching installed within mortar joints. These repairs are essential to ensure the structural integrity and long-term preservation of this iconic site.

During their lifetimes, Mary Lu and Wade Mitchell were staunch proponents for the advancement of many African American causes in Atlanta. The grant was established by their children, Catherine Mitchell Jaxon, and W. Wright Mitchell, who is president and CEO of the Georgia Trust.
 
 “My sister and I are excited to establish this grant to honor our parents’ legacy,” said Wright Mitchell. “Both of our parents worked tirelessly to advance African American causes in the city of Atlanta, and this grant is a perfect way to continue their important work by providing funds directly to minority historic preservation projects in the city that they both loved.” Mitchell added that “African American historic resources are vital to understanding the full story of Atlanta’s history, yet many remain significantly underfunded and unprotected. We hope that this grant will contribute to the preservation of these irreplaceable resources and contribute to a more inclusive telling of Atlanta’s collective history for future generations.”

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