Built in 1838, the Chipman Center is the oldest standing African-American church on Delmarva. It stands on the site of a former open meadow where slaves gathered for worship services conducted by Methodist circuit riders. In 1837, five local freedmen began holding services in a small red-pine slab building on the property of William Williams. Funds were raised to purchase the property and build a meeting house, and the property was purchased in 1838. A plain, long one-story structure was built for religious services and a day school. The church was identified as the African Methodist Church and was informally known as the Hill Church or Church on the Hill. The building was later expanded, incorporated in 1876, and named the John Wesley Methodist Episcopal Church. It was later combined with another church to form the present Wesley Temple United Methodist Church. After the property was abandoned as a church, educators Charles and Jeanette Chipman purchased it and later deeded it to the Newtown Association.
