Abandoned 177 Year Old Anglican Church
This now abandoned Anglican Church was opened for public worship in May of 1844, it was the only known church in the area that would provide religious services to black people.
While slavery may not have been popular in this area, not everyone accepted the equality of black people under the law yet.
They were allowed to attend service every Sunday, but they were segregated and seated in the upper tier/balcony of the church.
Unfortunately, the last church service here was over a decade ago, and there were only 6 parishioners left.
Join me in this explore from early in 2021 during a short period in which I was finally able to get access to this abandoned church.
Thank you to my friend GroundState Photography for the detailed history on this abandoned church. https://www.facebook.com/GroundStatePhotographyÂ
By 2014, the financial drain of continuing to maintain an unused church led the Anglican Church’s Diocese to slate it for demolition.
Local residents fought back and eventually won.
Ownership was transferred to a local community group, who had/have plans to restore it into a heritage centre. A string of disasters struck shortly after.
The community group’s leader died suddenly in 2017. She stood at city council and spoke up for the church, working tirelessly to ensure it would be saved. Without her influence, interest began to wane.
A GoFundMe campaign was created to inject some finances, but my friend Bruce (who wrote this history) checked it before writing this post and it has only raised $25 to date.
A Facebook page was created to try and keep the entire movement alive, but the last entry was August of 2019. And then, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic began shortly after, and that is where everything has completely stalled.
Sadly, the church may rot before it is saved. The wood frames of all the rear doors are completely rotten and they no longer close properly.
The rear wall is collapsing and raccoons and other vermin (such as urban explorers) now inhabit the interior.
