Muhlenberg, LIBERIA - Evangelical Lutheran Mission - School & Coffee Trays 1908:  Muhlenberg Mission was a Christian mission on the West Africa coast in Liberia. It was run by the Lutheran Mission of Africa for the Evangelical Lutheran General Synod of the United States of America.  The mission was an outlet for the products of its coffee farms.  Established in 1860 under the supervision of Rev. Morris Officer, the locality then was dense forest. Roads had to be cut, ground had to be cleared, and buildings erected. The nucleus of the work was 40 boys and girls taken from a captive slave ship, formed into a school. Banana and coffee trees were planted, the latter becoming the great industry of the mission, and a source of revenue for its sustenance.  The Muhlenberg Mission was situated on a hill, up the Saint Paul River, 30 miles (48 km) from Monrovia, the capital. In the 1876s, this tract of ground was covered by a dense forest inhabited by wild animals. The mission station turned it into a farm, with 100 acres (40 ha) of trees, which furnished the Lutheran Board in America from 16,000–25,000 pounds (7,300–11,300 kg) of coffee each year.  This Divided Back Era postcard, mailed in 1908, is in good condition.