The church's site was an important community center in the early years of Ross's Landing, before it came to be called Chattanooga.

During the American Civil War, an earlier church building on the site was used as a military hospital and prison by the Confederate Army and later as a Union Army military prison.

In 1867 it was purchased for use by the first African Methodist Episcopal congregation in East Tennessee.

Following restoration, which included installation of a new roof, sandblasting the exterior, and uncovering some of the interior woodwork,[3] the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

[3] After the 1979 National Register listing, city officials allowed the congregation to resume its use of the church for worship.