Black Religious Societies

The City of Troy had several religious congregations organized for the benefit of the growing Black population in Troy and Rensselaer County in the 19th century.

The earliest recorded congregation was the Wesleyan Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, founded 1832 and located on 5th Street north of Liberty until 1865, when a new church was built on the east side of 7th Street between State Street and Broadway. That church was demolished for the new Troy High School, circa 1930.

In 1834, the Troy Common Council purchased land on the north side of Liberty Street between Franklin and 4th Street. The session house of the First Presbyterian Church at Congress and 1st Street was physically moved down to its new location on Liberty Street and renovated for use by Black citizens of Troy as a non-denominational place of worship.

The Liberty Street Presbyterian Church for Colored People, organized in 1840 by members of the First Presbyterian Church, made use of the former session house. Nationally known clergyman and abolitionist Rev. Henry Highland Garnet was their first pastor from 1840 - 1848. (To learn more about Rev. Garnet, click here). The church was the site of the 1847 National Colored Convention, with speakers including Frederick Douglass. Based on notices placed in the newspapers of the time, we know that many other important conventions, such as the State Convention of People of Color and the National Convention of Colored Americans and their Friends were held at the church. The church was almost destroyed during the Draft Riots in July 1863 before Rev. Peter Havermans, pastor of St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, stopped the mob from burning the church down.

In the early 20th century, the Liberty Street Presbyterian Church suffered a fire, and in 1941 the congregation had to leave their original building, which was deemed unsafe. They worshipped in the former German Methodist Church on State Street and 5th Avenue in the 1930s, but that church building was demolished in 1963 for Urban Renewal. The “Liberty Street” congregation then merged with the Oakwood Presbyterian Church located on the corner of Oakwood and 10th Street in the fall of 1963.