Woodstock’s Hawkins Chapel

The story of a chapel that brought a community together on Park Row in Woodstock, Ontario.

By Megan Lockhart, Archives Technician

The former church known as Hawkins Chapel on Park Row in Woodstock, Ontario, was established by two men who had escaped slavery in America; George Washington, a porter at the O’Neill House, and Dan Anderson, a stonemason. The church was also commonly known as the Park Row Community Chapel by locals. Washington and Anderson began their work to establish a British Methodist Episcopal Church for Woodstock's Black community in 1883. They canvassed door to door at local houses to garner support for the construction of a chapel and, by 1886, the two men purchased a lot at 257 Park Row.

A colour photograph of the exterior of the Park Row Community Chapel in Woodstock, Ontario. The chapel is a wooden frame building with a sign next to the front door.

The Park Row Community Chapel in Woodstock, Ontario. This photo was taken pre-1970s, when the chapel was still in use for religious services.

The wood frame chapel, which had a 200 seat capacity, was finally opened on December 2, 1888 and would eventually provide service to around 75 local Black families. The church eventually became known by the name of its first minister Right Rev. Walter Hawkins. Over the years, local white families also began attending the church, as one minister Rev. Winston H.H. Clarke stated: “There are no colour lines in our church; we deal with the character of the people.”

A newspaper photograph of Rev. George Boyce posing in the Park Row Community Chapel. He is leaning on the altar in the church.

Reverend George Boyce standing at the altar in the Park Row Community Chapel (also known as Hawkins Chapel), ca. 1977.

The church closed in 1972 for several years. In July, 1977, Rev. George Boyce re-opened the church and painted it black and white, as evidence that it was open to any race. Despite the almost decade-long revival, the church was closed permanently in 1986. Since then, the building has been converted to be used as a private home.

A newspaper photograph of the former Hawkins Chapel on Park Row in Woodstock, Ontario. The windows of the chapel are boarded up. A large wooden cross hangs above the front door.

The Hawkins Chapel, sitting empty after its closure in 1986.