Tolson's Chapel, 111 East High Street, Sharpsburg, Washington County, MD

Significance: Tolson's Chapel served as a church and a Freedman's Bureau school for black residents of Sharpsburg in the years following the American Civil War. Establishing religious and educational institutions was essential to the future of Sharpsburg's African American community of former slaves and freedmen. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, just days after the bloody Battle of Antietam was fought in Sharpsburg. The State of Maryland abolished slavery in 1864. Built in 1866, Tolson's Chapel stands as a vivid symbol of the impact on enslaved African Americans of the event surrounding the Battle of Antietam and the Union victory in the Civil War.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N946
Survey number: HABS MD-1202
Building/structure dates: 1866 Initial Construction