Mary's City of David

1158 E. Britain Ave., Benton Harbor, Michigan. County/parish: Berrien.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places April 15, 2009. NRIS 09000201.

74 contributing buildings. 2 contributing sites. 1 contributing structure.

From Wikipedia:

House of David (commune)

The House of David (formally The Israelite House of David) is a religious group founded in Benton Harbor, Michigan, in March 1903. It was co-founded by spouses Benjamin Purnell (1861–1927) and Mary Purnell (1862–1953). The Purnells claimed to be the successors to Joanna Southcott (1750–1814), an English woman who had built a following as a self-described religious prophetess. The community flourished in the 1910s, but declined and split in various factions in the 1920s, after Benjamin Purnell was accused of sexual immorality. Today, only a handful of members remain.

(read more...)

LC