We invite you to visit us at the historic St. James AME Zion Church. Stop by the garden anytime between 9 am – 3 pm to see our in-progress excavations, join us
in digging and screening for artifacts, and learn more about the church and our project and how you can get involved!

The St. James AME Zion church building was constructed during the late 1830s and is today the oldest AME Zion church in the world still in active use. The building is known to have been the most important Underground Railroad station in Ithaca during the 1840s and 1850s. Harriett Tubman is known to have spent time at the Church and Frederick Douglass also visited. In 2021, Cornell Institute for Archaeology & Material Studies faculty in collaboration with Gerard Aching (Cornell Africana) and Reverend Terrance King (St. James AME Zion Church) launched a new community engaged initiative to explore the history of the St. James community. Our goal is to use archaeology as a means to help the Church and wider community tell empowering stories of St. James’s past. We hope to inspire all participants to learn more about their community and its rich history.