Archer Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church

A community of African Americans developed in the Hayden Station area during the 19th century. One of the religious and social centers for this community was the Archer Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Its first building was constructed under the guidance of Reverend Dennis Scott White (b. 1870), who received financial assistance from a local philanthropist, Frederick Thrall. The church was located next to a pine grove north of Hayden Station Road and Pond Road; Reverend White conducted popular camp meetings in the grove during the 1880s and 1890s. The pond nearby was used by the town for swimming and ice-skating and by the congregation for baptismal services. The present church building was erected in 1982.