Historic St. James AME Zion Church

St. James AME Zion Church is located at 116 Cleveland Avenue. Built in 1933, St. James is believed to be the oldest church Structure in Ithaca and it is one of the first AME Zion Churches in the country. It is listed on the National Register of Historic of historic places for being an integral part of the Underground Railroad. Harriet Tubman is documented as a frequent visitor and Frederick Douglass is also documented as having visited in 1852. The church is named after Rev. Thomas James (also once a fugutive slave) who purchased the site for the current church ediface. Jermain Loguen was a minister at St. James from 1846 to 1848 and his Underground Railroad stations were the most publicized.

The original building was a single-story structure erected from fieldstone. Today the stone foundation walls of the present church are all of what remains of the original church.