Frankford Avenue Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church 
Established 1870

Originally formed as a branch of the Rehoboth Church to accommodate the overflowing Sunday School program in 1868 this nucleus for a new congregation met in the Lyceum building at Frankford Avenue near Sellers street and later in Wright's Institute. During the Autumn of 1869 it was decided to launch the building project and on November 25th the Quarterly Conference of Rehoboth Church elected the following board of trustees for the new church enterprise: President John Shallcross; Treasurer John Wilcock; Secretary R.T. Williams; Garrett De Bow and Peter Otto. A site at Frankford avenue and Foulkrod street was purchased and on July 5, 1870, the building committee accepted the plans of Benjamin D. Price for a two story stone chapel. Work was started on August 19th  and on September 15th the cornerstone was laid. The building was dedicated on July 16, 1871 and used as a place of worship until 1912. On March 18, 1911 ground was broken for the building of a new church at this same location. The new edifice was formally opened for worship on June 16, 1912 with services extending over the entire week. This building was in use until 1924.


With the rapid growth of the Sunday School program larger quarters were sought. As a result, in May  1923, the entire property extending from Frankford Avenue to Salem street on Foulkrod street was sold. At the same time the site for the present Frankford Memorial Church at Oxford avenue and Dyre street, was purchased together with a parsonage at 1127 Dyre street. Ground breaking and cornerstone laying followed in quick secession on January 1st and April 6th, and in less than a year, June 1924, the farewell services were held in the church on Foulkrod street and the opening service in the Sunday School unit of the new building.


The work of finishing the main auditorium began during the summer of 1928 concluding in May 1929. The new church was dedicated on May 19, 1929 which coincidentally corresponding with the bicentennial celebration of Rehoboth, "The Mother Church." The completed edifice has a frontage of 88 feet on Oxford avenue and a depth along Dyre street to Akron street of 165 feet. It is in the Gothic style of architecture from plans by Horace W. Castor and was constructed by Frank E. Wallace of Chestnut Hill Stone with dressed stone and terracotta trim. The main auditorium had a seating capacity of 700, while there is a two story Sunday School building with a gallery. The basement of the church is fitted with a social hall, kitchen, heating plant etc. 

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Atop the tower at the Oxford avenue and Dyre street entrance there is a white glazed terracotta cross which is flooded by concealed lights. The interior of the main auditorium combines solemnity and beauty in it's rich finish and furnishings. There are 11 beautiful memorial windows, seven of which were removed from the former place of worship at Frankford avenue and Foulkrod street. The original pipe organ was rebuilt, enlarged and  installed.


The Pastor's study was located at the Dyre street entrance while the church parlor was located of the Oxford avenue entrance. A unique feature in the construction is having three cornerstones embedded in the walls, the first marked 1870 and taken from the original building on Foulkrod street; the second 1911 from the building at Frankford avenue and Foulkrod street, sold and vacated in 1924 and the third bearing the date 1924.