Greater St. James African Methodist Episopal
Church was founded
in 1883 by Rev. Hill and
twenty-five charter
members. Early services
were held in a member's house on E. Main Street.
The congregation purchased
a lot at the corner of
Lake and N. Church Streets
in 1885 and built its
first sanctuary, a frame
building, that year. That church was renovated and enlarged in
1917. It was
further renovated, adding a steeple, between 1948-50.
In 1950 Rev.
J.A. DeLaine (1898-1974)
was transferred to Saint James
from Pine Grove A.M.E
Church in Summerton, South Carolina after
playing a leading role in Briggs
v. Elliott, the
Clarendon County school desegregation case that
led to Brown
vs. Board of Education (1954). Unknown
persons burned the church in October 1955. The
congregation built a new
sanctuary here, called
Greater St. James A.M.E.
Church, dedicated in 1957.
