Site of First African Methodist Episcopal Church on the Pacific Coast

The congregation organised in 1850 as the Methodist Church of Colored People of Sacramento City and joined the African Methodist Episcopal connection a year later, the first on the Pacific Coast. In November 1855 its wooden building held the first statewide convention of California's Black citizens. The business was the state law barring Black testimony against a white person in any court, which left robbery and assault effectively lawful when the victim was Black. The ban fell in 1863.

What the plaque says

Site of First African Methodist Episcopal Church on the Pacific Coast This is the site of the first church building associated with an African American religious congregation on the Pacific Coast. The church was the Methodist Church of Colored People of Sacramento City, formally organized in 1850. In 1851 the congregation was admitted into the African Methodist Episcopal Church, becoming the first African Methodist Episcopal Church on the Pacific Coast. First known as Bethel, the name was later changed to St. Andrews. The original 1850 wooden church building was the site of the first statewide convention of the California Colored Citizens which met November 20-22, 1855. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 1013 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with St. Andrews African Methodist Episcopal Church and Sacramento County Historical Society, January 7, 1995

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sacramento — 0.6 mi
  The Gold Rush river port that became the state capital, and jacked itself ten feet into the air to stop drowning.

More markers nearby

• Old Folsom Powerhouse-Sacramento Station A — steps away
• Site of First and Second State Capitols at Sacramento — steps away
• Site of Congregational Church — steps away
• Site of China Slough — 0.3 mi