Morrisville Town Center Plan - 2007

Appendix 2

14. Shiloh Community

922 Church Street Two miles north of downtown Morrisville lies the Shiloh community. This area was originally organized by free African Americans who lived here beginning in the late 1820s. By 1870, Shiloh was self-sufficient community with a public school, social clubs, co-op store, and a church. Born a freeman before the CivilWar, Rev. James Dunston, the third pastor of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, was instrumental in securing land ownership, education, and economic development for the residents. In 1925, Dunston personally purchased 2,000 acres of land that reached from the Durham County line to south of McCrimmon Parkway. He divided it into parcels and offered it for sale to local families. Shiloh was annexed into the town of Morrisville in 1987.

Reverend James Dunston

Photo by Ernest Dollar

The Shiloh Baptist Church organized in 1867.

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70 │ Town Center Plan

January 2007