St. James African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, organized by Ithaca’s African Americans at the home of the Rev. Henry Johnson, was officially chartered in 1833. The church building was erected in 1836 on Wheat Street, now Cleveland Avenue. It became the religious, political and cultural heart of the community and in 1841 the site of a school for black children. It was home to Pastors Thomas James and Jermaine Loguen and hosted Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.