Welcome to the website of the McKim Center.

Established in 1821, the McKim Center of the McKim Community Association, Inc. is the oldest continuously active community center in the United States. The McKim Community Association, Inc. is also one of the oldest 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organizations in the United States. 

The McKim Center was a site of the Underground Railroad, the secret system of hideaways and safe places from the South to the North where enslaved Africans sought refuge and were guided to freedom. Harriet Tubman herself is likely to have passed through the center as one of the "conductors" of the Underground Railroad. Thus, McKim has long been a center of liberation, peace, and community uplift for generations of people.

For over two hundred years, McKim's "Free School" has enriched the lives of thousands of youth and families with athletics, academics, and neighborhood safety. Rather than offering daycare or after-care, McKim's "Free School" continues to teach neighborhood safety, peace, and wellness through physical education, science, the arts, and civic studies in its out-of-school time program. 

We approach community education and community healing in a holistic manner: we meet the physical, mental, and ethical needs of community members broadly and deeply. 

Coach Garfield Thompson now serves as the McKim Center's Executive Director. Coach Thompson succeeds Coach Dwight Warren who led McKim for over fifty years. 

McKim's community services uphold its pillars of structure, discipline, love, and respect.