BLACK BOTTOM HOUSE OF PRAYER

In the summer of 1916, a few Black families from the Deep South settled in an area of Orlando called the Black Bottom, so named because when it rained, water settled in the area and remained so long that residents built canoes for transportation. As was the custom of the time, the Black families worshiped in neighborhood homes and shared their soul food. In 1925, the Black Bottom House of Prayer was constructed as the home of the Pleasant Hill Colored Methodist Episcopal congregation, later renamed Carter’s Tabernacle CME. It was financed through a stock purchase from the Orange County Building and Loan Association. Thirty shares were purchased at $100 per share, for a total of $3,000. The building was designed in the popular Spanish Mission Style with exterior stucco finish, arched doorways, casement windows, and a red-tiled roof. The thick brick and stucco walls were thought to have a cooling effect in the Florida sun in the days before air conditioning. This church building, used by Justice for All Ministries led by Pastor Dana “Action” Jackson, continued its African American mission through the power of prayer in the 21st century.