United Methodist Church (East Main Street)

Organized in 1828 in Palatine Bridge, the United Methodist Church was built on this site in 1841. A new structure was erected after the 1915 fire destroyed the original. Antislavery lectures held here including one by former slave Henry Walton Bibb. Many Black families had their children baptized here.

Prior to the organization of the A.M.E. Zion Church, many local Black families were members of the Mthodist church and had their children baptized.

Henry Walton Bibb, a former slave who escaped from southern owners by way of the Underground Railroad, lectured to Canajoharie residents at the Methodist Church in 1849. Bibb described his journey to freedom forced to leave his wife and children behind. Susan B. Anthony, then teaching at the Academy, referred to Bibb’s speech in a letter home highlighting that Canajoharie residents were seemingly impressed by Bibb.

The first Methodist structure was constructed on this site in 1841 and burned in a 1915 fire.