Come explore the JWCC and learn more about the restoration project slated to start in 2025!
About the John Wesley Community Church: The John Wesley Community Church was the church of the African American Methodist Episcopal Church of Waterford. This congregation started meeting pretty soon after the end of the Civil War in the Second Street School- a one room African American schoolhouse in Waterford. Very quickly, they grew out of the space. In 1888, the trustees of the John Wesley Community Church were able to purchase a hilly lot that was the site of an old livery stable. The congregation built the church- men (many of which were craftsmen in Waterford) worked at night to build the church while women held up lanterns for light and sang gospel music. The church was dedicated and opened in 1891. Services were held in the church until 1968.
