STEWART MEMORIAL CHURCH (Hamilton, Ontario) (formerly St. Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church)
Founded c.1835 as St. Paul's AME Church, Stewart Memorial
Church represents the longest surviving predominantly Black
congregation within the City of Hamilton. First housed in a log
structure on Rebecca Street, just east of John Street North, the
congregation acquired its present building in 1879. This modest
clapboard church, erected in 1848, was remodelled c.1905 with
a Gothic Revival brick exterior.
One of the most prominent figures in the history of Stewart
Memorial Church was the Reverend John C. Holland, who
played an instrumental role in keeping the church open when
the congregation was faced with financial difficulties during the
Depression years. The decision in 1937 to sever ties with the
African Methodist Episcopal body resulted in the formation of
a non-denominational church, renamed in commemoration of
the previous minister, Reverend Claude A. Stewart.
The history of Stewart Memorial Church attests to the
importance of the church as both a religious and social centre
for Hamilton ' s Community of African descent, beginning with
the establishment of the earliest churches following the first
influx of fugitive slaves into the Hamilton area in the 1820s.
Erected with the assistance of the Ontario Heritage Foundation
Designated under the Ontario Heritage Act
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