Charles Street AME Church

The historic Charles Street AME Church located in Roxbury was organized in November 1833 on Beacon Hill by Rev. Noah Caldwell Cannon. During the pre-Civil War years, the church hosted abolitionist speakers like Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison at its Anderson Street building on Beacon Hill. After the Civil War the church grew to become the largest Black church in Boston and needed a larger building. In 1876 the church bought the Charles Street Meeting House on the corner of Charles Street and Mt. Vernon Streets at the foot of Beacon Hill. This 1807 Asher Benjamin designed building had been the home of the Third Baptist Church. This building is now a part of the Boston African American National Historic Site. The church remained on Charles Street until 1939, when it moved to the former St. Ansgarius Church in Roxbury. When it moved, the church kept its historic name and continued its legacy of leadership and service in Boston.