Florida Historical Markers Programs - Marker Detail

Description: The Arnett Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, affectionately known as "The Nett," was established in 1866 but can trace its beginnings to 1865. This historical church is the oldest surviving African American congregation in Quincy and Gadsden County. The congregation was admitted to the AME’s General Conference in 1866 by the Rev. Charles H. Pearce, Acting Bishop for Florida, and the Rev. Benjamin Quinn was appointed as the first minister to serve the congregation. Early services were held in people’s homes or brush arbors. The congregation purchased property for a permanent church building from Brister Gunn, a free black man in Quincy. Constructed in 1898, the first church edifice was a simple white frame structure. It was named after Bishop Benjamin W. Arnett, the presiding AME Bishop in Florida from 1888-1892. In 1939, the current brick edifice was designed in the Gothic Revival style and built under the direction of the Rev. D. A. Russell, who had extensive knowledge of architecture and building construction. A parsonage was built in the early 1960s. The ethnic heritage and architecture of Arnett Chapel AME Church remain historically significant to the community.