The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (A.M.E. Zion) has a rich history with African Americans and its roots can be traced back to 1796.  The A.M.E. Zion church was known as the “freedom church” due to the efforts of helping slaves escape from their masters. Celebrated black leaders, such as Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, and Fredrick Douglass held memberships with the church.

After the Civil War, congregations developed in many North Carolina towns, and by the late nineteenth century the A.M.E. Zion Church had achieved an important religious status in the state.