Old St. Paul's Church & Christ Church

Photo by Alan L Brown - Posted August, 2004

Plaque Location

The Municipality of Chatham-Kent
In Chatham, on the south side of Wellington Street West
between 5th Street South and Harvey Street

Coordinates: N 42 24.232 W 82 11.009

Plaque Text

With the assistance of local parishioners and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the Reverend Richard Pollard began construction of St. Paul's Church in 1819. Located one kilometre from here on Stanley Street, St. Paul's was the first church in Chatham and the first Anglican church in Kent County, serving the local population which included members of the Black community and the British garrison. By the 1840s, the congregation had outgrown St. Paul's Church and purchased this site across from the town market in 1860. Christ Church was completed the following year and consecrated by Bishop Benjamin Cronyn. The congregation used St. Paul's as a mortuary chapel until 1869 when it was destroyed by fire. Christ Church remains an important part of the spiritual and cultural life of the community.

Other Plaques in Chatham
The Abolition Movement in British North America
Chatham Blockhouse 1794
David Mills 1831-1903
Dr. Anderson Ruffin Abbott 1837-1913
Emily Ferguson Murphy 1868-1933
Jean McKishnie Blewett 1862-1934
John Brown's Convention 1858
Kent County Court House
Mary Ann Shadd Cary 1823-1893
The Provincial Freeman

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Black History

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