It is a two-story, frame church structure set on a high foundation and featuring a four-story entrance tower.

The building is a two-story, frame church structure set on a high foundation and featuring a four-story entrance tower.

[4][5] A congregation began in Ithaca in 1825, organized by several African-Americans, including Peter Webb,[6] who had moved from Virginia to Caroline, New York, in 1805, and purchased his freedom from slavery several years later.

[9] The land for the church was purchased for five dollars, raised among the 136 African Americans who were living in Ithaca at the time.

[10] Thomas James and Jermain Wesley Loguen were ministers at the church in the mid 19th century and became known for their antislavery work and involvement in the Underground Railroad.

[9][11] When a chapter of the NAACP, a civil rights organization, was founded in Ithaca in 1921, it first held meetings at the church.