| St. John's-In-The-Prairie | |
| Location: | SR 4, Forkland, Alabama |
| Coordinates: | 32.6475°N -87.8817°W |
| Built: | 1859 |
| Architect: | Upjohn, Richard |
| Architecture: | Gothic Revival |
| Added: | November 20, 1975 |
| Refnum: | 75000313 |
St. John's-In-The-Prairie, now known as St. John's Episcopal Church, is a historic Episcopal church in Forkland, Alabama, United States.
The congregation was organized in 1834 by Caleb Ives, a pioneer missionary, and was admitted to parish status in 1838. The first rector was the Rev. John Avery. The wooden Gothic Revival structure was built in 1859 on a Southern plantation to the designs of Richard Upjohn. It was a Methodist church, built on a Southern plantation south of Greensboro in the Antebellum South.[1]
After the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the Methodist planter had lost most of his assets.[1] He ran afoul of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South after he built a saloon from the ruins of his plantation house.[1] As a result, he decided to convert the congregation to an Episcopal church and move the building across the Black Warrior River to its present location in 1878.[1] [2] Others suggest he had sold alcohol to the Union Army and moved to flee veterans of the Confederate States Army.[1]
As of 2017, the church still has several congregants.[1]
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 20, 1975.