African Meeting House (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) The African Meeting House opened in 1806 and is the oldest surviving Black church structure in the nation. Built by a small but powerful free African American community, it served as a church, school and gathering place for political activism and cultural life. Widely known as the “Black Faneuil Hall,” it hosted numerous community meetings of activist organizations, such as the Massachusetts General Colored Association, the New England Anti-slavery Society, and the New England Freedom Association, a group dedicated to assisting freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad.