Greater Ward A.M.E. Church
Houston, Harris County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Greater Ward African Methodist Episcopal Church (Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church until 1972; then Greater Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1972-2007) is the oldest congregation of its kind in the Acres Homes Community, located ten miles north of downtown Houston. Ward Chapel A.M.E. Church was organized in February 1913 and named in honor of Bishop Thomas M. D. Ward, the tenth bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. The first place of worship was in the home of Rev. John T. Williams and his wife, Cassie, on what is now Tuskegee Street at Holly Street. In 1919, the Wright Land Company donated two lots on Apollo Street near Galilee Missionary Baptist Church, but the congregation opted to build on the west side of Arabella at Granville Street. After a 1934 fire, a new structure was erected there in 1935. The sanctuary on the east side of Arabella was erected in 1955, following a major building campaign. Rev. Ollie Lewis Dawson, one of the congregation’s longest-serving ministers, was a community activist and used the church as a meeting place to discuss social and civic matters. He was active with the NAACP, Acres Homes Church Union, A.M.E. Ministers Alliance and many other organizations. The church had numerous ministries, including several choirs, the Daughters of Ward, the Allen Christian League and vacation bible school. Ferguson Way was named for trustee Rendy Ann Johnson Ferguson. Trustee Wiley Adams successfully petitioned county officials to name nearby Tuskegee, Wilberforce, Paul Quinn and Dillard Streets in honor of historically black colleges and universities. The church continues to be a source of guidance and support for the Acres Homes Community.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Organized in 1913 and named for A.M.E. Bishop Thomas M. D. Ward, this is the oldest congregation in Houston's Acres Homes community. It began in the home of Rev. John T. Williams, rebuilt after a 1934 fire, and raised its lasting sanctuary in 1955. Under ministers like Rev. Ollie Lewis Dawson—an NAACP activist who made the church a meeting place for civic affairs—it became a hub of community life, its trustees even winning the naming of nearby streets for historically Black colleges.
Why it matters
The church shows how Black congregations anchored community, education, and civil-rights organizing in segregated Houston, shaping the identity of an entire neighborhood.
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Related people
- · Thomas M. D. Ward
- · John T. Williams
- · Ollie Lewis Dawson
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Acres Homes Community
Houston, TX
Beginning in 1910, developer Alfred A. Wright platted the subdivisions that became Acres Homes, drawing Black families with cheap land, low taxes, and freedom from building restrictions. Lacking city utilities, the community built itself — churches, schools, Masonic halls, businesses, and even the South's first Black-owned bus line. By the 1950s it was celebrated as one of the largest all-Black communities in the United States, retaining its identity even after Houston annexed it in the 1960s and 70s.
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Soon after the United States entered World War I, the Army established Camp Logan here in July 1917 as one of 34 training camps, a 7,600-acre complex named for Civil War general and senator John A. Logan. During construction, Black soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 24th Infantry, stationed nearby, rose in armed revolt on August 23, 1917, against Houston's Jim Crow laws and police abuse—the deadly "Houston Mutiny and Riot of 1917." Divisions trained here shipped out to fight in France in 1918, and after the camp closed part of its land became Memorial Park, named for the soldiers who fought in Europe.
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J. Vance Lewis
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