The church on this site was constructed in 1959 to replace the original structure (circa 1921; shown above). A 1983 addition features stained-glass windows by Edward B. Tousana, a Batavia artist.

Under the guidance of Rev. B. P. Gayles, of Aurora, Illinois, five members formed the congregation in September 1921. Rev. William M. Mitchell, of Evanston, Illinois, was called as the first pastor in 1928.

This neighborhood has been the epicenter of Batavia’s African American religious community since the mid-1860s, when the St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church was established by Rev. Abraham Thompson Hall, the first African American licensed to preach in Chicago.