Emanuel AME Church

The original congregation of the Emanuel AME Church was organized by slave and free blacks in 1791. In 1816 the churches members formally established their congregation as an African Methodist Episcopal church, a relatively new denomination for the time. In 1818 leaders of the church were prosecuted for organizing religious gatherings not under supervision of the white authority. Again in 1822 the congregation underwent investigation for alleged participation in the planning of a slave revolt. When authorities came to believe that Denmark Vessey, anti-slavery activist, belonged to the congregation they burned down the original church structure in 1832. In 1865 a wooden replacement for the church was designed by Denmark Vessey’s son, Robert Vessey. The church was badly damaged in 1886 by the earthquake that affected several of Charleston’s historic buildings. The Emanuel AME church that exists today was completed in 1892 and is the oldest AME church in the south. Second only to the Bethel AME church in Philadelphia, it is the oldest in the world.