Malvern Historical Photo Location Revealed

Last week’s historical photo challenge didn’t offer much in the way of contextual clue, and no readers managed a correct guess.

The Ebenezer AME dhurch was built circa 1835 and is still barely standing today.

East Whiteland Historical Commission chair Tim Caban shared some background about the church, which once served as a hub for the local African American community:

Members of this community have been documented as former slaves. Their ability to contstruct this church demonstrates the prosperity and commitment of this community.

The trustees of the Ebenezer AME church purchased the land in 1831 from James Malin. The oldest gravestones found in the cemetery date from the early 1830’s. The congregation disbanded for a time between 1848 and 1871 during which time the building fell into disrepair. By June 22, 1873 the church had been rebuilt and rededicated. It continued to be used until 1970; then intermittently until the 1940’s. Now it is abandoned.

More recently, Eagle Scout Mathew Nehring cleaned up the grave yard and documented the available gravestones. Below are links to a description about Mathew as well as pictures of the two civil war gravestones.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=47276488

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=2351899&GRid=51594299&

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSmcid=47276488&GRid=51594050&

Thanks to everyone who ventured a guess.

Stay tuned next week for the next historical photo hunt from a location in Malvern.

Have a photo of a spot that’d be perfect for our hunt? Submit it to justin.heinze@patch.com.