Wesley Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church
Introduction
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This historic church was built in 1963 for a congregation that dates back to 1874. The congregation met in a variety of buildings between the 1870s and the completion of this structure and also operated a school for the city's growing African American population in the era of Reconstruction. The first school for African Americans in San Marcos was established in 1868 by the Freedman's Bureau, a federal program aimed at assisting former slaves and other Southerners in the wake of the Civil War. The city offered no financial support to the Freedman's School or any other school for African Americans until 1877 when the school district established a public school for fifty African American students.
Images
The present church structure was built between 1962 and 1963 under the leadership of Rev. A. T. Harris.
Sources
Juan R. Palomo & Ollie W. Giles, "A Subjected Race" in Celebrate San Marcos 150! http://www.ci.san-marcos.tx.us/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=1614