Among Urbana's first black residents were a few individuals that had been members of African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) churches in the East.

In 1824 or 1825, A.M.E. missionary Moses Freeman visited Urbana while travelling through the then-western part of the United States;[2]: 362  here he met the former members of his denomination and officially organized them as a congregation.

[2]: 363  As well as serving at St. Paul's, he ministered at A.M.E. churches in Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo, but he became most prominent in the years after his pastorate in Urbana.

While a state representative from Greene County in 1886, he pioneered efforts to repeal Ohio's black codes.

[4] Construction of the present church building was a long process: work began in 1866, but the structure was not completed until after Benjamin Arnett's 1876 installation as the pastor.