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Raleigh’s Christ Church sponsored the establishment of a parish for freedmen in 1868. From this parish grew St. Augustine’s Chapel (at St. Augustine’s University) and St. Ambrose Episcopal Church. This modest ‘carpenter’ Gothic style building was constructed at the corner of Dawson and Lane Streets in 1868. The tiny church seated 175, and was used by both its parish congregation and students at St. Augustine’s school. It was called St. Augustine’s until 1895, when a stone chapel was built for students’ use on campus. The remainder of the congregation continued to worship in the 1868 building. At the direction of Bishop Joseph Cheshire, parishioners renamed the older church St. Ambrose.
As Raleigh’s residential patterns developed along racial lines in the late 1800s, the congregation chose to relocate closer to the African-American community. The 1868 church building was moved to a site on South Wilmington Street around 1901. By mid-century, the Wilmington Street neighborhood had changed from residential to commercial. The congregation grew during this time, too, and could no longer be accommodated in their 175-seat building. In 1965, the decision was made to build a new facility in Southeast Raleigh, and old St. Ambrose Church was demolished. A parking lot occupies its former site.