Black Heritage Trail in Beacon HIll
The African Meeting House is considered the oldest surviving black church building in the United States. Built in 1806, the church was the hub of religious, social, political and educational activity in Bostons black community. The National Park Service notes that William Lloyd Garrison founded the New England Anti-Slavery Society here in 1832, Frederick Douglass delivered an anti-slavery speech here in 1860, and it was a recruitment station for the all-black 54th Regiment during the Civil War. At the end of the century, a Jewish congregation bought the building and used it as a synagogue. In 1972, the Museum of African American History bought the building. It was recently renovated $9.5 million renovation.