409 Dunstan Ave. – Kyles Temple Ame Zion Church

04.08.12

This large, front-gabled church has a square tower at the front east corner, and a one-story, shed-roofed ell across the rear. The church is of brick construction with a brick water table and an exterior chimney at the west rear. The façade is dominated by an arched, recessed entrance with replacement aluminum and glass doors. Windows are placed symmetrically with a round stained glass window centered under the gable, two square stained glass windows at the second-floor level, and two teardrop windows on either side of the arched entrance. The tower at the southeast corner projects slightly from the façade and contains teardrop windows on the front and east elevations; it has a rectangular vinyl vent near the top. The sanctuary itself is four bays deep with a stained glass window in each bay and the bays separated by brick pilasters. The site slopes to the rear to reveal an exposed basement with six-over-six, double-hung wood sash windows and four-over-four, double-hung windows on the shed-roofed rear ell.

One cornerstone states the Church was organized in 1929; it was offshoot of nearby St. Mark’s A.M.E. Church and was named for Bishop Linwood Westinghouse Kyles, the presiding prelate of the Central North Carolina A.M.E Church Conference, who organized the church in 1929. A second cornerstone indicates a 1930 construction date.

The church is listed with a 415 Dunstan Street address as early as 1935; this, together with variations in the brick on the side elevations indicate that the current church may be an enlargement or reconstruction of an earlier church that stood on or near this site. The current structure was built in 1944 and was renovated in 1984.