Reprinted with permission as a public service by the Landmark Society of the Niagara Frontier, now the Preservation Buffalo Niagara


Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York
By James Napora
Table of Contents

FREE METHODIST CHURCH - 1869
Virginia at Tenth (NE)
Architect: Unknown
Founded August, 1860

During August, 1860 a group of fifteen clergy and forty-five laymen conducted a series of meetings in Pekin, New York, a town near Lockport. Those gathered proposed to set forth a newdeclaration of beliefs based on the principle that all men are equal within the church. Their primary basis of demonstrating this equality would be in free pews for all who desired to attend services. As most of those gathered were already members of the Methodist church, they elected to affix the word "free" to their name, to further signify their intents.

Returning to the city, the ideas lay fallow for the succeeding months. After a series of organizational meetings, the Rev. B. T. Roberts established the First Free Methodist Church. Hepurchased a former theater on Pearl Street near Eagle and remodeled it as their first place of worship, conducting the initial services of the society on 19 October, 1860. On 20 November, he officially organized the congregation with twenty-four charter members.

Seeking a more suitable building in which to worship, in 1869 the congregation purchased the property on the corner of Virginia andTenth Street and proceeded to construct a modest, brick house of worship at a cost of $10,000. Wishing to further define their identity, in 1873 the congregation became known as the First FreeMethodist Church. At that time, they established a mission inBlack Rock which later became known as the Second Free Methodist Church, located on Potomac Avenue.

They remained on Virginia Street until 1921. At that time, with about sixty members, they purchased the former Central Park ME Church then on Main and Morris. They proceeded to have the building dismantled and moved to the corner of Jefferson and Florida where it now stands. They remained there until once again moving in 1952 to their final location at 51 Capen Blvd.

The unassuming building on the corner of Virginia and Tenth now serves as the headquarters of Hispanics United, a community service group. Constructed of brick it is virtually without style except for the pointed arches of the second floor windows of the former auditorium.


© 1995 James Napora
Page by Chuck LaChiusa with the assistance of David Torke
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