THE WESTERN STAR October 25, 1860 GRAND FESTIVAL The members and friend of the African Methodist Episcopal Church*, in Lebanon, will have a grand Festival, at Washington Hall** on Tuesday evening, Oct. 30th, commencing at 7 ½ o/clock. The proceeds are to be applied to the erection of a new Church edifice. The object is a laudable one, and we hope it will be well attended and remunerative. NOTES *The African Methodist Episcopal Church in Lebanon was organized in 1858. The six original members first met at the home of Jesse Wilkerson who lived at the corner of Pleasant and High streets. Shortly after the church’s organization, the trustees purchased the ground at what is now 111 N. Cherry Street, between Warren and Silver. Their “meeting-house,” what is now the Bethel AME Church, was completed in the autumn of 1861. **Lebanon’s Washington Hall (1855-1963) stood at the southwest corner of the intersection of Silver and Mechanic streets. Originally the south side of the first floor was for the fire department, while a market hall occupied the north. Upstairs was an auditorium that could seat 500 people. In 1859 the upper floor was leased to the National Normal University to be used as a chapel. After the Civil War, the market hall closed and the Lebanon Fire Department took over the entire lower level. A veterans post, organized in 1882, began to meet upstairs. When the Lebanon Opera House was built in in 1878 Washington Hall’s glory days were over. This new town hall had an auditorium nearly two and a half times larger. In the early 1900s, Washington Hall was renamed Memorial Hall because of its long association with veterans groups. However, by the the 1950s even the American Legion and the V.F.W. left for newer quarters. Washington Hall was finally torn down in 1963. Its location today is taken up by the northeast corner of the new LCNB National Bank drivethru on Mechanic Street.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 13:27:46 +0000
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