St. Paul's AME Church

Gettysburg’s St. Paul’s AME Zion Church’s congregation dates to 1838. For a period of time, they met in the home of famed abolitionist, Thaddeus Stevens. During this period, members of the congregation established the Slave Refugee Society in 1840. The congregation later built a log cabin church and moved to this structure when it was completed in 1917.

The original structure was built in 1840 on Breckenridge Street and was a wooden frame building. St. Paul’s remained integral to Gettysburg’s African American community throughout the Civil War era into the twentieth century. Pastor Stanley said “Our church has always been involved with justice and equality, not just of African-American people, but all people.” As time progressed, the congregation outgrew the church’s original wooden structure. In 1878, the church trustees raised funds to build a new church on the grounds. The congregation laid the cornerstone in 1884. Construction of this building was completed in 1917 and is the current church in which St. Paul’s congregation meets. Despite a dwindling congregation, St. Paul’s has remained a staple of the African American Community in Gettysburg to the modern day. 

Jim Hale, “Historic Church Faces Challenges in Gettysburg,” Gettysburg Times, August 21, 2018. https://www.gettysburgtimes.com/news/local/article_524cb43c-108e-57e4-83cb-ce947d63db7b.html.