Maryland Historical Trust: Historic Properties

Statement of Significance

1895 planning map for "Brandywine City" in Prince Georges County.

The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church North, now part of Cedarville Assembly of God complex, is located at 11600 Cedarville Road in Brandywine. The church is an excellent example of a late-nineteenth-century Gothic Revival-style church. The modest one-story, one-bay main black construction was constructed in 1879 to serve a small congregation in rural Brandywine and Cedarville. The building expanded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century as the congregation grew larger. Located in a rural setting, the church was an important community gathering place on Cedarville Road. The building retains sufficient integrity to convey the characteristics for which it is significant.

Historic Context

The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church North is located in Brandywine, Maryland. Brandywine is a small community located in the southern portion of Prince George’s County. Prior to the Civil War (1861-1865), a store and a post office existed in the town. Construction of the Baltimore and Potomac and the Southern Maryland and Point Lookout railroads after the Civil war spurred substantial development in Brandywine. Despite the growth and economic opportunities encouraged by the railroads, Brandywine remained a semi-rural crossroads community.

The Grace Methodist Episcopal Church North was built in 1879 on two acres of land donated by the Key family. The land was donated for the purpose of building a structure where the congregation could meet. Services had previously been held in members’ homes. The congregation of Grace Church was so small that it never had a resident minister. Membership fluctuated and at times  church would close for a year or two while members attended services at Immanuel Church in Baden. The church was left vacant from 1908 through 1925 when the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church North closed. During the time which the church sat vacant, the German-American Colonization and Land Company owned the property. The company also owned and built the one-story, three bay concrete-block Old Bank of Brandywine (PG: 85A-32-30) located at 14110 Brandywine Road in 1912.

The Cedarville Assembly of God rented the church and began holding services in the building around 1930. In 1970, they purchased the property. After Cedarville Assembly of God Church was built next door in 1974, Grace Methodist Episcopal Church North was used to hold Sunday School classes. Currently, the building is vacant.

[Excerpts from the Maryland Historical Trust Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form, Inventory No. PG: 85b-004. As prepared by EHT Traceries, Inc. October 2007]