Home | The Settlement of Oklahoma Blacks in Western Canada | Appendix A

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Appendix A: Potential Black History Sites in western Canada – Current Locations

Churches

Shiloh Baptist Church in Edmonton

There are no surviving photographs that I could find of the original Shiloh Baptist Church in Edmonton. The church appears to have met in houses until at least the 1920s.

The first location given for Shiloh Baptist Church was 636 or 638 Clarke Street. These addresses would roughly correspond with the houses in the foreground. In 1921 the church moved to 9347 105 Avenue. This location would correspond with the site of a large apartment block. Clarke Street became 105 Avenue when Edmonton switched to a numbered street system.

The house located at 10920 98 Street is listed in city directories as both the home of Reverend Brooks and the location of Shiloh Baptist Church in 1919. Given the apparent age of this house, it is quite conceivable that it is the same structure as that listed as the church.

Shiloh Baptist later moved to 12336 66 Street and then to its current location at 10727 114 Street. 

Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church

The known locations for this church have been completely redeveloped. The first location for Emmanuel AME Church in 1921 was near the corner of 103 Street and 107 Avenue. A street address of 10644 103 Street was given in later city directories.

The church moved in 1926 to 9709 106 Avenue, which is now in the heart of Edmonton’s Chinatown.

The address 9709 106 Avenue would have been either the location of this BBQ House or the parking lot against its east wall.

The Edmonton Negro Colonization and Settlement Society

This organization was active in the early 1920s and operated out of an express business owned by a Black resident of Edmonton. Mr. Golden’s premises were located at 9502 102 Avenue. 

9502 102 Avenue would have been located at the far right end of this lot.  The current building appears to be a more recent structure.

Cemeteries

The Alberta Municipal Affairs master list of known cemeteries in Alberta includes three rural cemeteries with a connection to Black churches. The cemeteries in question are the Amber Valley African Methodist Episcopal Church cemetery (file number 1431) located in the SE quarter of section 16, township 66, range 20, W4 meridian; Keystone Cemetery operated by the Breton and District Historical Society (file number 1725) located in the SW quarter of section 14, township 48, range 4, W5 meridian; and Bethel Cemetery of the Bethel Baptist Church in Campsie. The latter cemetery is located on the NW quarter of section 21, township 59, range 5, W5 meridian. Although several cemeteries are listed for Wildwood, none is clearly connected to the Black settlement located there in the Municipal Affairs list. The Alberta Genealogical Society, however, does have a listing for an Empyrean Cemetery at Wildwood.

As noted above there is also a cemetery associated with Shiloh Baptist Church at Maidstone/Eldon.

Breton

Relatively few structures remain from the initial Black settlement at Keystone/Breton. The Vant Hayes family is farming in the district, as is Willard Robinson who moved to the Breton area from Amber Valley. A farm building associated with the Brisco family is located near the Keystone cemetery, but it is in poor repair and is in danger of collapse. The Funnell School, however, does still exist. It has been altered and now serves as a community hall. The major alterations are a side addition to the original building and the replacement of the original wood siding with stucco. The railway siding for Keystone also still exists but no station or other buildings remain.

Amber Valley

The main extant structures associated with the Black community at Amber Valley are the Obadiah Bowen, Edwards and Melton farmsteads.  The current community hall is a newer building dating from the early 1990s. It contains a small museum outlining the history of the community. An earlier community hall dating from the 1970s is located on an area farm, as is the teacherage from Toles School.

Maidstone/Eldon

The major historic resource reflecting the story of Black settlement in this community is Shiloh Baptist Church detailed above. The Eldon School has been moved to a new location and converted for use as a house. It is located on the SW 18-50-22-W3. The Mayes family retains ownership of a farmstead in the area as well. It is located at NE 01-50-23-W3.