Charles Street Meeting House, a stop on Boston’s Black Heritage Trail
BLACK HERITAGE TRAIL
STOP 5
The fifth stop on Boston’s Black Heritage Trail is at the corner of Charles and Mt. Vernon streets, the Charles Street Meeting House. Built in 1807, this was originally the Third Baptist Church of Boston, a mixed-congregation church that adhered to segregated seating. In the mid-1830s, white church member Timothy Gilbert invited some of his black friends to his pew and ended up getting expelled. He and other like-minded members split off to form the First Baptist Free Church, one of the first churches in the United States that treated white and black members equally. In 1876, the building was purchased by the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which resided at this location until 1939. It was the last black-owned commercial building on Beacon Hill. Since then the building has housed churches, retail shops, and restaurants. It is currently an office building.
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Last updated on October 28, 2025
