Abolitionist Movement and African Methodists

Underground Railroad: It served as the spiritual and political centre of the city growing black community, which was asserting its voice in the abolitionist movement and welcoming an influx of families seeking freedom via the Underground Railroad, according to Toronto Star. Eventually, the congregation outgrew the tiny church and replaced it with a handsome brick temple. On this tract of land, just north of Osgoode Hall, a handful of African Methodists built a small wood frame church in 1845. But after more than a century, membership dwindled, the congregation moved and the temple was sold off. Now, with that same lot being prepared for the development of a new state-of-the-art provincial courthouse, the rich history of Chestnut St. In the late 1980s, the building was demolished to make way for a parking lot and, until last fall, the church was largely forgotten. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.