Dickerson Chapel is a historic chapel in Hillsborough, North Carolina. Built in 1790, the chapel originally served as the courthouse for

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

until 1844. It housed a Baptist congregation from 1845 until 1862, when it was purchased by a group of

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

to serve as a school for African-American children. Since 1886 it has housed a congregation of the

African Methodist Episcopal Church The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the AME Church or AME, is a Black church, predominantly African American Methodist Religious denomination, denomination. It adheres to Wesleyan-Arminian theology and has a connexionalism, c ...

History

Dickerson Chapel was built in 1790 as the third courthouse for

Orange County, North Carolina Orange County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 148,696. Its county seat is Hillsborough. Orange County is included in the Durham–Chapel Hill, NC Metrop ...

. It served as the county's courthouse until 1844, when the court relocated to what is known as the Old Courthouse. The building was located on the corner of Churton and King Streets in

Hillsborough Hillsborough may refer to: Australia *Hillsborough, New South Wales, a suburb of Lake Macquarie Canada *Hillsborough, New Brunswick *Hillsborough Parish, New Brunswick * Hillsborough, Nova Scotia, in Inverness County *Hillsborough (electoral d ...

. In 1845, the courthouse was purchased by Rev. Elias Dodson, the first Baptist minister in Hillsborough. Dodson had the building relocated to its present site on the corner of Churton and Queen Streets and reopened it as the First Baptist Church of Hillsborough. It served as a Baptist church until 1862, when the property was purchased by three Quakers from Pennsylvania, who converted the building into a school for African-American children. In 1886 the chapel was given to trustees of the

References

African-American churches in North Carolina African Methodist Episcopal churches in North Carolina Chapels in the United States Churches in Orange County, North Carolina Churches completed in 1790 Former Baptist church buildings in the United States Former courthouses in the United States Former school buildings in the United States Hillsborough, North Carolina {{NorthCarolina-church-stub