The Academy on Bridge Street was sometimes used by the members of the American Methodist Episcopal Church before the congregation built Mount Moriah on Stoney Hill Road in New Hope. The famous preacher Jarena Lee wrote about speaking at the Academy. Lee was the first female preacher approved by the AME. Edward Smith, a preacher at Mount Moriah, was probably the first Black man to own property in Solebury when he purchased a small lot near William Maris’ cotton mill in 1825, and the AME congregants may also have met in his home at times.